Sindh unmoved as sit-ins go on

HYDERABAD:

The lawyers of Sindh and the local nationalist party leaders on Thursday rejected the government announcement of halting the construction of new canals on the Indus river, saying that they would accept nothing short of cancellation of the controversial project.

They said that their protest sit-ins at a dozen of places, blocking the highways leading to Punjab, would continue. The lawyers even turned down an invitation from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) to attend its rally on the issue on Friday (today). There is a massive protest movement across Sindh against the proposed construction of six new canals on Indus. The Sindh government has also publically opposed the project, while various political parties as well as civil society organisations were leading different protests rallies and sit-ins on this issue.

Following a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the government on Thursday evening announced that it was halting the canals project until a consensus could be developed in the Council of Common Interests (CCI).

However, announcement failed to smooth the ruffled feathers in the province, as the federal government steered clear of denotifying the project, which is the first and foremost demand of the political parties and the legal fraternity.

"The announcement made by the prime minister and Bilawal Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is ambiguous," said Syed Zain Shah, the head of the Sindh United Party (SUP) and a leader of the Darya Bachayo Tehreek [save the river movement].

Shah said that they were apprehensive that by using the platform of the CCI the government will bargain for giving up on one or two canals against permission to build as many more. "But there is no water in the [Indus river] system, therefore, no decision allowing the construction [of canals] can be taken."

Allama Rashid Mehmood Soomro of the Jamaat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), which is also organising protest demonstrations across the province, said that their protests would continue unabated until the CCI meeting rejected the project.

"Prime Minister Shehbaz's statement is a deception," said Advocate Vasand Thari, President of Awami Tehreek, "The CCI has lost its credibility," he contended, alleging that it was the same council that imposed a wrong decision on Sindh, regarding the census. "The people of Sindh don't trust the CCI."

Advocate Sajjad Chandio, a representative of the All Sindh Lawyers Action Committee told The Express Tribune that their sit-in camps would continue until the government issued notification of cancelling canals and the corporate farming.

Another group of lawyers, sitting on the Babarloi Bypass in Khairpur district for seventh consecutive day, gave the Centre 48 hours to issue the notification of cancelling the canals project, after which they would block the railway traffic in the province.

Karachi Bar Association (KBA) President Amir Nawaz Warraich, who is leading the camp at Babarloi Bypass, told the media that the PPP had invited the lawyers to participate in its April 25 public meeting in Karachi but added that the lawyers would not attend the event.

 

Transporters concerned

 

The Pakistan Goods Transport Alliance and the United Goods Transport Alliance issued an ultimatum to the federal government, demanding a safe corridor for trucks and containers stranded at the Babarloi Bypass - between Rahim Yar Khan and Sukkur— by Friday (today) noon.

Speaking a press conference at the Karachi Press Club (KPC), the transporters warned that if their demand was not met, they would initiate an indefinite nationwide road blockade by parking their vehicles across major highways.

The transporters leaders, including Nisar Hussain Jaffri, Malik Shehzad, Tariq Gujjar, Ghulam Yasin, and Gulfraz Jadoon,called on the federal government to immediately halt the controversial canals project – the main demand of the protesters.

According to them, the roads closures had left thousands of cargo-laden trucks and trailers stranded for the past seven days, causing massive spoilage of goods and deaths among livestock. "The situation is critical," Jaffri told the reporters.

"Goods worth millions of rupees are rotting, and animals brought for sacrifice have perished. This is causing nationwide shortages of food, fuel, and medicine, resulting in heavy losses to traders, transporters, and the national economy," he added.

According to Jafri, over 30,000 trucks and trailers were stuck in the Babarloi-Sukkur area alone, while a traffic snarl stretching to Sadiqabad in Punjab. "The drivers and animals are without food and basic support. The situation is inhumane and unsustainable," he said.

(WITH INPUT FROM OUT KARACHI CORRESPONDENT)