HYDERABAD, Sept 12: The leaders of the Anti-Greater Thal Canal Action Committee have announced that in the next phase of their protest they would hold protest demonstrations in Thatta district on Sept 20 and 21 and Sanghar on Sept 24.

They said they will also hold a water conference in Karachi on Oct 19 against the Kalabagh Dam and greater Thal canal.

They were briefing newsmen after the meeting of the committee held at the residence of PPP MPA, Syed Ali Nawaz Shah Rizvi, at Gulshan-e-Sajjad Thursday night.

They said that water conferences will be convened at the district level in Sindh as well as in Quetta, Peshawar and Lahore.

They said that if the rulers did not pay any heed to peoples’ protest against the Kalabagh Dam and greater Thal canal, then the leaders of the committee would lead protest demonstrations outside the Parliament House and Supreme Court.

A leader of the People’s Party Parliamentarians, which holds the convenership of the action committee, Taj Haider, alleged that, on the one hand, the lands of the generals would be irrigated through the greater Thal canal, while, on the other hand, the canal would destroy the agrarian economy of Sindh.

Accusing the Sindh government of an indifferent attitude on this crucial issue, Mr Haider regretted that the provincial government had failed to implement the unanimous resolution of the Sindh Assembly adopted on two occasions.

He said in order to save the federation, the people of all provinces will have to unite on the water issue.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief of the Awami Tehrik, Rasool Bux Palejo, accused President Gen Pervez Musharraf of misusing power “with a view to destroying Sindh”.

Those who attended the meeting included Haider Shahani and Hoath Khan Gadhi (STPP), Afzal Gujjar (PML-N), Ayub Shar (SNF), Azam Jehangiri and Hafiz Hajan Laghari (JUI-F) and Abrar Qazi and Abdul Majeed Nizamani (Sindh Water Committee).

HUNGER STRIKE: Some activists of the Sindh Taraqqi Passand Party on Friday held token hunger strike in front of the press club to protest against the indifferent attitude of the Sindh government on the issue of the greater Thal canal and Kalabagh Dam.

Speaking on the occasion, party leaders Dr Abdul Hameed Memon, Muzaffar Kalhoro and Shaukat Abro said that the stand taken by the Sindh govern-ment on the Kalabagh Dam and greater Thal canal was against the interests of Sindh province.

They said that some ministers and assembly members were trying to weaken the case of Sindh for their petty interests.

They warned that if they betrayed Sindh, they would find no place to hide.

They also warned the prime minister that Sindh would never forgive him if he compromised on the greater Thal canal and Kalabagh Dam.