Sindh [Pakistan] April 21 : Nationalist parties, attorneys, farmers, writers, and members of civil society are protesting and staging sit-ins throughout Sindh against the federal government's proposal to dig six new canals from the River Indus, claiming it is an attempt to seize the state's water resources, according to a report by The Balochistan Post (TBP).
The USD 720 million project, which is part of the "Green Pakistan" effort, intends to channel water from the Indus to create agricultural land for a military-run agribusiness in the Cholistan desert. According to TBP, opponents claim that the plan infringes on Sindh's water rights and has the potential to seriously harm the state's agriculture industry.
Protest camps, shutdown strikes, and demonstrations have proliferated throughout Sindh's cities. For three days in a row, attorneys in Khairpur have been staging a sit-in, causing traffic jams between Punjab and Sindh. According to TBP, nationalist groups have also conducted sit-ins on railroad tracks, stopping train operations.
The plan has drawn opposition from Sindh's ruling party, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which has threatened to quit the coalition government if the project is not abandoned. According to the TBP report, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has stated that the PPP-led provincial government will reject the plan before the next budget.
According to the TBP report, protesters assembled in Hyderabad as part of the "Save the Indus Awareness March" and declared that they would not stop until the projected canal project was abandoned entirely.
Altaf Hussain, the founder and leader of the MQM, had previously fiercely opposed the development of new canals from the River Indus, characterizing the project as a deliberate effort to deprive Sindh of water and make it arid.
Under the guise of the Green Pakistan Initiative, he asserted that the project is actually a "Green Punjab Project" that is intended to enrich Punjab at the terrible expense of Sindh's agricultural and ecological survival. During a high-level meeting at Aiwan-e-Sadr, Hussain accused Asif Ali Zardari, the PPP Chairman and President of Pakistan, of sanctioning the contentious project.
He condemned the PPP's public opposition as hypocritical, calling the party's protests a facade meant to mislead the people of Sindh while covertly supporting the canal expansion.