KARACHI, Jan 9: Commenting on the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s less than 12-hour ultimatum to the government, Pakistan People’s Party on Monday maintained that if the MQM claim was right, then Gen Pervez Musharraf should publicly announce on TV that Kalabagh Dam was not being constructed and the military operation in Balochistan had been stopped.

In a joint statement, the head of the Anti-Kalabagh Dam and Greater Thal Canal Action Committee, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, and the PPP Information Secretary Taj Haider said that to prove credibility of the MQM’s claim, it was imperative that Gen Musharraf made a categorical statement on TV that his dispensation would not force the controversial Kalabagh Dam without the consensus of the federating units, and that unilateral decisions would not be imposed on people.

A similar statement with regard to the military operation in Balochistan was essential, they said, and emphasized the need for a negotiated political settlement of the problem.

They said that if Gen Musharraf failed to make the categorical statements, then the people would be right in believing that the MQM’s stance was nothing more than a “fixed bout to hoodwink and cheat people.”

They pointed out that while the MQM was claiming that the government had decided not to build the Kalabagh Dam, the federal information minister was saying that the government had in principle decided to build the same.

“The NFC Award has not yet been finalized and the Sindh’s share of 2-MAF water is being robbed, but the MQM is silent over the construction of Greater Thal Canal… Why?” They said that the MQM cannot fool the people for long because they had seen through its game of connivance with the military dictatorship.

They said that military dictatorship had always harmed national interests, be that today or when there was a dispute over water with India after the independence. The alleged that the government had failed to protect Pakistan’s interests, in so far as the water issue was concerned.

They said that a former prime minister, Mr Suhrawardy, had in his speech to the Commonwealth Conference, made a very strong case of the water dispute with India.

He had argued that according to the international law and practice, the existing uses of water from a river could not be disturbed. Thus India had to guarantee that the quantities of water (8-MAF) that were being from the eastern rivers at Rasool, Baloki and Sulemanki head-works, would continue undisturbed.

India, at that time was drawing 5-MAF from the eastern rivers from the head-works situated in India. Mr Suharwardy had argued that those too could not be disturbed. He had proposed negotiations with India on the distribution of the balance 22-MAF of the eastern rivers.

Calling the dispute a matter of survival for Pakistan, Mr Suharwardy had threatened India with war if it started any construction on the eastern rivers.

The field marshal signed the Indus Basin Treaty with India in violation of the accepted international principles. The treaty was signed under US umbrella whereby India was given the exclusive use of the eastern rivers (plus some quantities of water from the western rivers) and Pakistan was given loans for the Tarbela and Mangla Dams and Chashma and other link canals by the World Bank.

The idea was to transfer water from western rivers to the lands of southern Punjab which were being irrigated through the eastern rivers.

While challenging the government claim on water shortages, they said that losses of water at a reservoir through seepage and evaporation would go up in proportion to its depth and surface area.

At Tarbela and Mangla, Pakistan is losing eight to nine-MAF through evaporation and seepage. Kalabagh would mean the reduction of anther four-MAF from the river system. Baghlihar and Wullar would result in very high losses in downstream flows if the size is not contained within certain limits.

“We have once again walked into the trap by referring the dispute (on which Pakistan’s stand is 100 per cent correct) to the World Bank for a settlement and arbitration. A decision has already been taken, i.e. water to India and loan for Kalabagh to Pakistan.” they said.