HYDERABAD, May 21: A public meeting, held here on Tuesday to mark the 32nd death anniversary of peasant leader Comrade Haider Buksh Jatoi, demanded that Sindh should be declared calamity-hit area due to the acute shortage of water.

It further demanded that agricultural taxes, including land revenue, water charges and agricultural loans, should be waived.

In another resolution, the meeting demanded that the Kalabagh dam, the greater Thal canal and other water projects on the River Indus should be shelved forever.

The resolution demanded that irrigation water should be distributed according to the 1945 Sindh-Punjab Water Agreement, feudal system should be abolished and lands should be distributed among haris and they should be given subsistence allowance.

The meeting condemned India for its threat to break the water agreement.

It demanded that supporting price of rice, cotton, sugar-cane and wheat should be increased and prices of pesticides and fertilizer should be reduced.

The gathering condemned the distribution of gunny bags among the landlords and demanded its judicious distribution.

The meeting also demanded that Zakat fund should be used for the payment of loans of haris.

It demanded that tube-wells should be installed on main canals and watercourses on war footing to ensure water supply to haris and farmers.

It demanded that the name of the Sindh Agriculture University should be changed into “Baba-i-Sindh Comrade Haider Buksh Jatoi University”.

Speaking on the occasion, Sindh Hari Committee president Azhar Ali Jatoi alleged that the ministers who had sold out interests of Sindh were traitors.

The chief of Ponam, Sindh, and the STPP, Dr Qadir Magsi, asked the people to launch a social boycott of the “traitors” of Sindh.

The speakers also paid tribute to Comrade Haider Buksh Jatoi for his services to secure rights for peasants.