MIRPURKHAS: Awami Tehreek activists staged 10-kilometre march, from Sim Sorhadi saline water drain to Digri town, on Sunday in protest against government plans to construct six canals on Indus River, corporate farming and amendments to the Irsa Act.

The march started from Baloch Colony chowk and terminated at Muhammadi chowk where party leaders, Lal Jarwar, Ayaz Khosa, Sindhyani Tehreek district chapter’s president Zubaida Kaloi and Azmat Halepota made speeches and warned the federal and Sindh government withdraw the canals project or be ready to face stiff resistance from Sindhi masses.

They slammed the federal government and Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairman President Asif Ali Zardar and asked them to clarify their views on the controversial project.

They deplored that President Zardari was using President House for sale of natural resources and pricy lands of Sindh.

They said that it was a more dangerous attack than One-Unit on Sindh and blamed that Mr Zardari had approved the canals project to save his office and thus paved the way for turning Sindh into wasteland.

They alleged that Sindh government had already handed over thousands of acres of costly land to foreigners. Attempts were being made to cultivate Punjab land by using Sindh’s water share of water under different conspiracies, they said.

They deplored that instead of canceling sale of costly Sindh land under green initiative PPP had once again given away 14,000 acres land and local farmers were being expelled from that land.

They said that Sindh chief minister proved himself to be inefficient as he showed ignorance of allotment of Sindh lands.

They demanded the chief minister immediately cancel the allotment or tender resignation.

According to a press release issued by the party, the leaders demanded an end to corporate farming, cancellation of allotment of land to companies, a halt to the construction of canals and revocation of amendments to the Irsa Act, 1992.

They accused the PPP government of prioritising power over welfare of people and demanded the government should distribute land to local landless farmers and women rather than corporate companies.

They warned that the government’s policies would lead to desertification of the province and the displacement of people.

They slammed the government’s decision to allocate 18,713 acres of land to Green Corporate Initiative Private Limited, and plan for handing over additional 14,008 acres in Umerkot district to the company.

The protesters vowed to continue their struggle against the government’s policies, which they described as harmful to the rights and interests of people of Sindh.

ZAB Jr leads protest

Pakistan Peoples Party-Shaheed Bhutto leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Jr. on Sunday lashed out at federal government over construction of six canals on Indus River.

He said at a rally of his party workers in the riverbed at Al-Manzar, Jamshoro, that federal government claimed that downstream Kotri flows were wastage of water despite knowing that if these flows did not fall into sea then seawater would intrude upland and devour farmland.

He said that construction of Cholistan Canal, which was meant to irrigate four million acres of land in Punjab, would eventually render Sindh’s lands barren. Sindhi people would never let these canals and dams be built, he said.

He said that Indus was a matter of life and death for people of Sindh who would lay down every kind of sacrifice to save it. Haris, labourers and masses were real owners of Sindh’s resources, he said.

He warned the government would have to cross over bodies of Sindhi people to build these canals and PPP-SB would fight against the project from all platforms. Sindh was already facing water shortage and if these canals were built then everything would be destroyed in Sindh, he cautioned.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2025