No canals, says Khursheed Shah

PPP leader advises Punjab minister to avoid rhetoric

KARACHI:

Senior parliamentarian and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Khursheed Shah made it clear on Sunday that the Sindh government maintained a firm stance against accepting the Indus canals and urged Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari to refrain from making rhetorical statements on the issue.

Talking to the media persons in Sukkur, according to Express News, Shah said that, at present, every party had its own agenda, adding that the situation had reached a point where the people needed to decide whether to strengthen the country or create problems for it.

"Our position on the canal issue is clear and unequivocal: there will be no compromise on Sindh's water," Shah told reporters. "Even the dead people have risen to oppose it," he added. "The canal issue is not just about Sindh, it concerns the entire country."

He said that now voices were being raised in Punjab as well against the Indus canals. If the situation on the canal issue lingered, there would not be a single drop of water. "We want to provide water to the people, we want to save the Federation. The PPP had always served the Federation."

Reacting to a statement from the Punjab information minister, criticising the PPP leadership, Shah advised Azma Bukhari to avoid rhetoric and reminded her that she had started politics from the PPP platform. "So refrain from making such statements," he said.

To a question regarding the release of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder, Shah said that he was not in the business of making predictions and added that it was a judicial matter. However, he said that the PTI leaders "do not listen to anyone in parliament and they are not serious about anything".