Pakistan Peoples Party and its ally Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on Thursday exchanged barbs in Punjab over the issue of construction of six new canals, with the former warning that the situation was already bad in the two provinces, the canal issue might put the third province in the same category.
With protest going in Sindh against the construction of six new canals in Punjab which, they feared, would be given water out of their share, senior PPP leader Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmad, whose party was in power in Sindh, at a news conference in Lahore, denounced what he described as a "controversial" project aimed at benefiting the corporate farmers only at the expense of small growers. He said that the PPP would not allow the government to infringe upon the rights of the farmers.
Manzoor said that water is a sensitive issue, so much so that Pakistan has a dispute with its neighbour over it.
"You are killing small farmers of Punjab in the name of corporate farming but the PPP will not let Athis to happen. We will stand with farmers everywhere," Ahmad told a press conference on the canals controversy, while without naming the government.
"The situation in the two provinces is already bad, now we want to do it in the third one as well," he continued. "The water issue in Pakistan is very sensitive. There are a lot of protests in Sindh against the new canals," he added.
Countering the assurances that Sindh's water share would not get affected, he asked from where will they draw water for this project from; will Punjab cut off supply of some other of its canals?
He said that Pakistan, which was already water deficient by 20 per cent, then from where will they water this canal. He said this 20 per cent shortfall is to be faced by all provinces equally.
He said that they were told that the canals would get water in floods, so during the nine months when there is no floodwater, where will these canals get the water from.
He also questioned Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's reluctance to convene a meeting of the Council of Common Interests despite demands from Sindh and other provinces.
Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari, responding to the news conference, said that the Pakistan People's Party should not bring its internal disputes to the media.
She remarked that politicising canal water has always been a practice of Sindh, whereas the reality is that the PPP must first determine whose water it is – Sindh's or Punjab's.
She pointed out that PPP leaders claim to stand with farmers, but they should first verify whether the farmers support them.
Bokhari questioned, "Can you not fight for Punjab's rights while living in Punjab?
The minister emphasised that Punjab neither takes away anyone's rights nor allows others to infringe upon its own. She asserted that Punjab has always played the role of an elder brother, and history shows that it has never been unjust to anyone.
Bokhari suggested that instead of questioning the Punjab Chief Minister, it would be more appropriate for the PPP to seek clarification from the president of Pakistan on this matter.
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