Keeping Sindh intact: Awami Tehreek to hold month-long protest march

March to start from Tharparkar on February 5, end in Karachi on March 7

HYDERABAD: The leader of Awami Tehreek, Rasool Bux Palijo, has announced a month-long march from Tharparkar to Karachi to protest against official corruption and plunder of Sindh's resources.

The elderly leader told a press conference at his residence in Hyderabad on Sunday that the march will start from Tharparkar on February 5 next year and will culminate in Karachi on March 7.

On the way, the march will pass through the rural and semi-urban towns of Umerkot, Mirpurkhas, Tando Allahyar, Hyderabad, Tando Muhammad Khan, Sujawal and Thatta districts.

"In Karachi, we will hold a peaceful protest to let the world know what's being done with Sindh," said Palijo.

The alleged injustices with Sindh - water theft from the Indus River, ignoring the local people in development projects, sale of Sindh's land, continued settlement of migrants, Thar coal project's impact on local people and terrorism - were among the party's complaints.

"The Awami Tehreek reiterates that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the most important plan for the country's progress," said Palijo. "It should continue and no obstacle should ever stop it."

He added that all the phases of CPEC should be completed on time. However, he said that the wrong policies of the federal government have resulted in reservations on part of the people of Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

"The maximum benefit of this project is going to Punjab while the other provinces are benefiting in name [alone]," he claimed, demanding that all the provinces should be given equal opportunities of growth and development under the project.

Talking about the controversy surrounding the Thar coal project's reservoir in Ghorano, Palijo supported the concerns of the locals and demanded that the reservoir's site should be shifted towards the Runn of Kutch.

"The [Thar Coal] project should be completed and the interests of the people of Sindh should be ensured," he said, adding that the company's engaged in the coal projects should properly compensate the affected people and build alternative settlements for the displaced people before starting the coal mining works.

"The cruelty with Sindh over water sharing, which started during the British reign, has kept increasing in magnitude after the creation of Pakistan," he alleged, adding that the dams and canals in Punjab continue to use Sindh's water share from the River Indus.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2016.