DADU, Dec 24: Assembly members from the ruling and opposition parties gathered at the valima of a son of Federal Minister for Water and Power Liaquat Jatoi in Betto Jatoi on Saturday opposed the proposed construction of the Kalabagh dam.

However, the federal minister did not allow journalists to talk to Sindh and Balochistan chief ministers, saying it was not a political gathering.

Sindh minister and Pakistan Muslim League leader Altaf Hussain Unnar said the Sindh government under the leadership of Arbab Ghulam Rahim had a clear stand on the Kalabagh dam issue. He said the Sindh government opposed the project because people of the province opposed it.

He said construction of the dam would not be accepted without consent of Sindhi people. He supported the stand of Sindhi people on the issue.

MNA Dr Ibrahim Jatoi said parliamentarians, including ministers, represented aspirations of Sindhis on the issue. He said opposition of Sindhi people to the project was genuine.

Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement general secretary Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah said the Kalabagh dam would destroy economy of Sindh and deprive its people of their livelihood because after its construction, water would not flow below the Guddu Barrage. He said the people of Sindh would not even get water for drinking.

Referring to a statement of Pir Pagaro in favour of the Kalabagh dam, Mr Shah said the project might be in the interest of Hurs but was it against interests of Sindh.

He condemned the military operation in Balochistan. He demanded that the operation should be stopped forthwith and legal rights should be provided to Baloch people.

PML leader Ismail Rahu demanded that the Kalabagh dam should not be constructed.

MPA Syed Murad Ali Shah said the people of Sindh had rejected construction of the dam and they would continue their struggle against the project.

PML MPA Ehsan Ali Jatoi, brother of minister Liaquat Ali, said it was not the right of President Gen Pervez Musharraf or any body else to decide the matter of Sindh’s water but it was a prerogative of Sindhi people.

Our Shikarpur correspondent reports: The Sindh Bar Council has opposed the Kalabagh dam and expressed concern over the attitude of the government over the project.

A meeting of the council was held at the residence of former council chairman Agha Yasin Khan Durrani in Garhi Yasin on Saturday.

The bar council was of the opinion that the Kalabagh dam was not feasible and it was against interests of Sindh, Balochistan and the NWFP. It supported people of the three provinces over the issue.

Criticizing the stand of President Gen Pervez Musharraf on the issue, the bar council alleged that he had raised the issue to prolong his rule and divert attention of people from construction of GHQ over a vast area near Rawalpindi.

The council also condemned the military action in Kohlu and other parts of Balochistan.

In a resolution, it demanded that the government should shelve the Kalabagh project because it had been rejected by three provincial assemblies. It also demanded to stop the operation in Balochistan.

Bar council chairman Anwar Mansoor Khan, who is advocate general of Sindh, presided over the meeting.