MULTAN, March 15: The government decision of closing canals in the Punjab to provide water to Sindh will ruin the standing crop in southern Punjab.

This was stated by Pakistan Seraiki Party (PSP) chief barrister Taj Muhammad Langah at a meeting here on Friday.

A party press release termed the arrangement of Indus River System Authority (IRSA) unjustified. It said the water being given to Sindh was the share of Seraiki belt which was the heartland of the country’s agriculture.

Seraiki area had always been made scapegoat to settle disputes between the Punjab and Sindh for it had no representation on IRSA or any other forum where water and other disputes were resolved, it said.

The PSP press release advised Seraiki nationalist parties of PONM not to play in the hands of what it termed Sindhi chauvinists.

The meeting asked immediate construction of Greater Thal Canal to compensate the irrigation water shortage in the Seraiki belt. The proposed canal would serve as a flood canal and therefore it would not affect the share of provinces, it added.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the Seraiki unit of Pakistan Oppressed Nations’ Movement (PONM) has demanded postponement of all the new water projects in the country until the creation of a Seraiki province.

The meeting of the heads of component parties of PONM was held here on Thursday with its convener Hameed Asghar Shaheen in the chair. The PONM leaders said they would not accept any water accord unless the ‘Seraiki nation’ was not considered a part to the issues of water distribution among provinces. “Work on all projects, including Upper Thal canal and Kalabah dam, should be stopped immediately to first have the Seraikis’ point of view on these vital subjects,” they added.

The meeting expressed concern over the political and economic mess in the country and accused the military and civil bureaucracy and their puppet politicians for what the PONM said internal and external crisis. It was observed that the Lahore Resolution of 1940 promised sovereignty to all the federating units who voted for a separate homeland. “Unfortunately, the military dictators belonging to Punjab have been ruling the roost,” the PONM leaders lamented.

They observed that the political situation of the country demanded that the federating units including the Seraiki province be redemarcated. It was suggested that to achieve this goal the judges who did not take oath under the PCO (Provincial Constitutional Order) be handed over the task. They should also be entrusted with the task to conduct fresh elections. The new assembly should draft a new constitution which ensured equal representation of all the federating units.

It was decided that the central command of the movement would be suggested to take part in the coming general elections from the platform of PONM and also formed alliance with other like-minded political parties.

The PONM, Seraikistan, urged the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to procure cotton stocks to save the cotton belt from economic destruction. It also urged the government to procure wheat at the rate of Rs400 per 40 kilograms besides reducing the prices of inputs like fertilizers, diesel and pesticides, etc.

The PONM meeting expressed concern over the neglect of monuments in this part of the country, especially in Multan, which was among a few oldest living cities on this planet.

The PONM also released a list of the recipients of lands in Yazman, Bahawalpur district, which were supposed to benefit from the proposed Thal canal and Kalabagh dam. The list included the names of President Gen Pervez Musharraf, interior minister Moeenuddin Haider, Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool, Lahore Corps Commander Zarar Niazi.