STPP blocks National Highway at Hatri Bypass to protest against canal plan

HYDERABAD: A protest sit-in was held on Saturday at the Hyderabad Hatri Bypass on the call of the Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party (STPP) against the proposed plan to build a canal on the Indus River.

The sit-in, which lasted for more than five hours, was led by STPP Chairman Dr Qadir Magsi.

A large number of STPP workers and general public, including women and children, participated in the protest that blocked the traffic movement on the National Highway and caused long queues of vehicles on both sides of the road.

Addressing the sit-in, Dr Magsi said the Indus River was the aorta of Sindh and closing it would mean the massacre of 60 million people. He warned no one would be allowed to build canals or dams on the river.

He recalled that when former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had announced the construction of the Kalabagh Dam after the nuclear explosions, the entire Sindh protested, after which Sharif had to withdraw his decision.

He added that later, General Pervez Musharraf also announced a similar plan but he was also defeated by the people of Sindh.

The STPP chairman said the incumbent prime minister Shehbaz Sharif should learn from the past.

He said the Pakistan Peoples Party had always made anti-Sindh decisions. He said President Asif Ali Zardari must remember that he got power from the votes of the people of Sindh and if he took decisions against the interest of the province, the people of Sindh would not forgive him.

He added that water was not being released into the Indus delta in enough amount and it was a violation of the current agreement. He lamented that agriculture had suffered severely in Sindh as the province was not getting its share of water. If more canals were built, Sindh would be completely destroyed, Dr Magsi said.

He announced that the protest movement would continue until the announcement to build the canal was withdrawn. He warned that millions of people would gather in front of the Governor House in Karachi on November 24 to tell the federal government to stop conspiracies against Sindh.