JI conference dismisses six new canals' plan

HYDERABAD:

A water conference, hosted by Jamaat-e-Islami Sindh and presided over by provincial Ameer Kashif Saeed Shaikh, was held at a local hotel in Hyderabad today. The conference was attended by leaders of political, religious, and nationalist parties.

The participants rejected the federal government's plan to construct six new canals on the Indus River, calling it illegal, a violation of the IRSA Act, and a conspiracy to turn Sindh barren.

They criticised the dual standards of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and warned that if the party failed to pass resolutions against such anti-Sindh projects in the Sindh Assembly, National Assembly, and Senate, all political parties would jointly besiege the Chief Minister's House.

In his presidential address, Jamaat-e-Islami Sindh Ameer Kashif Saeed Shaikh alleged that, as in the past, the PPP is facilitating the federal government and institutions in building these canals.

Sindh United Party leader Syed Zain Shah dismissed the federal government's data on water as fake and deceitful. He highlighted that the people in Hyderabad and Karachi were struggling even for drinking water.

Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party Chairman Dr Qadir Magsi said water is a basic necessity of life, and the Indus River is Sindh's lifeline. He said: "If new canals are constructed, Sindh will turn into a collective graveyard." He criticized Punjab's bureaucracy for always devising plans to loot Sindh's water. He urged political parties and farmers to continue the struggle against the plan of six canals.

Pakistan Muslim League-Functional Sindh Secretary General Sardar Abdul Rahim stated that Pir Pagara was prepared to go to any extent to protect Sindh's water. Sindh Abadgar Board leader Seyed Nadeem Shah Jamot accused Punjab of planning to cultivate its barren lands at the cost of turning seven million acres of Sindh's land barren.

PTI leader Khawand Bux Jahejo acknowledged that water is a serious issue for Sindh and assured full support to JI's efforts against the plan to build six new canals on Indus River.