DADU/LARKANA: Qaumi Awami Tehreek and Awami Tehreek held protests against deferral government’s plan for the construction of six ‘strategic’ canals on the Indus River, corporate farming and water theft in Wahi Pandhi and Tangwani towns, respectively, on Wednesday.

In Wahi Pandhi, QAT chairman Ayaz Latif Palijo led a foot march of his party’s workers and supporters from Dodo Brahmani village to the town’s main roundabout, where they held a demonstration.

Palijo said in his speech before the protesters that new canals being constructed under the Cholistan project were an attack on Sindh as the canals would devastate the province’s agricultural landscape, displace millions and increase poverty.

He said the corporate farming projects were aimed at seizing land of poor farmers and pointed out that the ‘Green Pakistan’ initiative, which was being used to take control of Sindh’s land and water resources, was part of a scheme for altering demographics of the province by granting identity cards to illegal immigrants from neighboring countries.

He accused Pakistan Peoples Party leadership of selling water and resources of Sindh to protect their own interests and political ambitions. The PPP has been silent on the exploitation of Sindh’s natural resources for decades, he said.

He condemned the killing of Naziran Brahmani and slammed local police and elected representatives for allegedly protecting the killers. “It is a shame that we have to stage protests with bodies of victims on the streets to demand justice. Police attempt to shield the culprits and despite our legal right to file an FIR, we are forced to wait for days to even lodge our complaints,” he added.

In Tangwani, workers and supporters of Awami Tehreek staged a rally on Wednesday in protest against bandit rule, corporate farming, construction of canals and issuance of identity cards to illegal immigrants.

The protesters held a sit-in and raised slogans against canals and corporate farming projects, bandits’ rule and Greater Thal Canal and Cholistan Canal projects.

AT’s central senior vice president Noor Ahmad Katiar and others said that PPP was imposing terrorists on the people of Sindh. By issuing identity cards to Bengalis, Biharis, Burmese, and other foreigners, the PPP aimed to establish a reign of terror in the province, he said.

They said that PPP aimed to sell away Sindh to make Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari prime minister but people of Sindh would never tolerate such betrayal. “We are committed to protecting every inch of our land,” they vowed.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2025