Pakistan: Massive rallies held across Sindh against controversial plan
Pakistan: On Sunday, protests against the contentious proposal to build six canals to irrigate Punjabi lands were staged in many locations around Sindh.
Nearly all political and religious parties, nationalist organizations, and civil society organizations participated in the demonstrations. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) categorically opposed the canal project, notwithstanding its decision to avoid participating in the rallies in the streets.
Dawn claims that the biggest demonstrations were held in Larkana and Hyderabad. Protest organizers vehemently denounced the canal project in their passionate speeches, calling for its abandonment on the grounds that it threatened Sindh’s very survival.
The head of the Qaumi Awami Tehreek (QAT), Ayaz Latif Palijo, issued a warning, saying that the development of these canals will cause Sindh to lose its essential water flows, which would further devastate its already precarious agricultural sector. Latif Palijo was reported by Dawn as stating, “The rulers have destroyed the agriculture sector of Sindh and if these six canals are dug, then Sindh would lose its water flows.”
Latif emphasized that there would be no tolerance for any effort to take control of Sindh’s water, lands, islands, or resources. Lal Shah of the Awami Jamhoori Party, Maulana Taj Mohammad Nahiyoon of JUI-F, Rafiq Magsi of PML-Functional, and Tahir Majeed of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) were among the other prominent speakers at the event.
The demonstrators pledged to oppose the canal project and any modifications to the Irsa Act, which regulates water distribution in Pakistan, while shouting anti-canal chants. The leaders said that via deliberate actions, the government was attempting to destroy Sindh’s agricultural industry and steadily deplete its water supplies.
According to sources, the leaders also harshly criticized the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for what they called “double-faced” policies. They specifically cited former President Asif Ali Zardari’s July 8 approval of the canal project while other PPP officials in Sindh remained opposed to it. They called on the people of Sindh to rebel against “anti-people projects” that would “ruin” the agricultural economy of the province.
The demonstrators cautioned that important crops including wheat, sugarcane, rice, cotton, and bananas will suffer greatly as a result of the canal project. They also voiced worry about its detrimental effects on the Indus River’s ecology. They called the idea “economic murder” for farmers, claiming that four of the six canals already had their foundations laid.
Similar protests were also conducted in Shaheed Benazirabad, Sanghar, Naushahro Feroze, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Dadu, and Jamshoro, among other towns and cities in Sindh, according to Dawn. People from all facets of society have expressed their worries about the canal project’s possible effects on Sindh’s agricultural and environmental future, which is reflected in the demonstrations.
