KARACHI: Opposition parties in Sindh, along with members of the legal fraternity, staged a sit-in outside the Karachi Press Club on Sunday in protest against the proposed construction of six new canals on the Indus River.

From the joint platform of the Save Indus River Movement, the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and members of the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) took out a rally from Empress Market which concluded at the KPC where party leaders addressed the participants.

The demonstration saw participation from a wide spectrum of political and civil society figures, including PTI-Sindh president Haleem Adil Sheikh and Raja Azhar, Arsalan Khalid, Dr Masroor Sial, Pakistan Muslim League-Functional and GDA leader Sardar Abdul Rahim, Sindh United Party’s Syed Munir Haider Shah and KBA president Aamir Nawaz Warraich, along with numerous workers and activists.

The speakers termed the canals project a conspiracy against Sindh and held the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) responsible for it.

PTI’s Haleem accuses President Zardari of ‘approving’ controversial scheme

Speaking on the occasion, Haleem Adil said the people of Sindh had awakened against those canals.

He observed that those conspiring against the Indus River were the enemies of the people of Sindh. He claimed that the 26th Constitutional Amendment was being used to undermine the judiciary.

He accused President Asif Ali Zardari of approving the controversial canals project and alleged that Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari was merely attempting to mislead the public. “Bilawal is playing political theatre,” he said.

Targeting the ruling party in the province, GDA leader Sardar Abdul Rahim said the PPP had been consistently misleading the public with false statements.

“From Karachi to Kashmore, the entire province of Sindh is up in protest against these canals,” he said. “There is unrest throughout Sindh. Those who have compromised on Sindh’s interests are now a disgrace in the province,” the GDA leader added.

He urged the people of Karachi to stand against the illegal diversion of canals from the Indus River, adding that 85 per cent of the city’s water came from it.

Mr Rahim claimed that the international organisations’ reports also warned that the river could dry up, warning Karachities that they would also face a severe water crisis if those controversial canals were built on the Indus River.

Speaking on the occasion, SUP leader Syed Munir Haider Shah stated that the country could not function amid such injustices. “President Asif Zardari has bargained over the Indus River to make his son the prime minister,” he alleged.

Barrister Arshad Shar Baloch, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, said Sindh’s lifeline was being snatched away. “The approval for these canals came from Mr Zardari, and now the PPP is shedding crocodile tears,” he said.

KBA president Aamir Nawaz Warraich said the association had passed a resolution against the proposed canals, terming them illegal.

“If Pakistan is to be saved, this project must be scrapped, or else the country’s stability will be at stake,” Mr Warraich said, adding that the legal community would continue its protest across the province unless the notification was withdrawn.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2025