SUKKUR: Sindh United Party chairman Syed Zain Shah has said that more than half the controversial canals planned to be constructed on the Indus River have already been built with their gates ready to open anytime.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was complicit with federal government in the theft of Sindh’s water through these canals, he said.

Shah was speaking to participants in a rally taken out by activists of the parties, which were part of Save Indus River Movement, against construction of six canals on Indus in Gambat town, Khairpur district, on Thursday.

He said that there was almost no drinking water in Kotri, Sukkur, and Guddu barrages, and the issue had become a matter of survival for millions of Sindhis. “Occupation of the Indus is unacceptable. PPP has traded off the river but we will not allow the river to be robbed from us,” he said.

He called upon the federal government, inclusive of the PPP, to withdraw the decision on the canals, and warned them of unstoppable protests if they failed to shelve it.

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl Sindh leader Rashid Mahmood Soomro said: “My martyred father had said 20 years ago ‘even if they swear upon the Quran that they won’t build canals, don’t believe them because they will definitely build the canals and today my father’s words have been vindicated.”

He said that it the opposition’s job to protest while PPP was a ruling party. “Instead of protesting, if the PPP separates itself from the government and removes Shehbaz Sharif, I will be the first to garland Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari,” he said.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Sindh president Haleem Adil Sheikh said that PTI would not allow the Indus to be occupied. PTI was the first party to table a resolution against canals in assembly, he said, adding the PPP had traded off the river.

He explained that Irsa Amendment Act was introduced during President Dr Arif Alvi’s tenure but Alvi safeguarded Sindh’s rights instead of compromising them while PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari signed the same to facilitate theft of Sindh’s water.

He accused the PPP government of plundering Sindh’s resources over its 17-year rule and said the party’s incompetence had already devastated Sindh’s agriculture and was now endangering its water resources. He said that PTI chairman Imran Khan would soon be released from prison and establish a system of justice across the country.

He vowed to protect Sindh’s water rights and safeguard interests of farmers, labourers, and general public. Under the leadership of SUP’s Zain Shah, sit-ins would be held in Hyderabad on April 5 and in Karachi on April 6, he said.

Sheikh urged people to unite against all anti-Sindh forces and strengthen the movement for change, emphasising that the time had come to free the province from corruption and exploitation.

The protest witnessed significant participation by workers of the parties which were part of the Save Indus River Movement, their supporters and members of general public.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2025