LHC verdict: ‘Will prefer to die, than build Kalabagh Dam’

Shajeel Memon says PPP to file resolution against project in Sindh Assembly.

KARACHI: The Lahore High Court’s verdict on the construction of Kalabagh Dam has ruffled feathers in the ruling hierarchy and the Pakistan Peoples Party is expected to table a resolution against the project in the upcoming session of the Sindh Assembly.

On November 29, the high court had ordered the federal government to implement the decisions of the Council of Common Interests and build the hydroelectricity project.

On Friday, PPP’s Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon came out with a statement, saying that the ruling party would once again move a resolution against Kalabagh Dam. Three provincial assemblies except Punjab have already rejected the megaproject. “Time and again we have to clarify that the PPP-led government will not let anyone build the dam. We will prefer to die, but will allow anyone to proceed with the project,” Memon said.

The minister questioned the “integrity” of the Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League for threatening the stability of the federation by supporting the dam’s construction.

Referring to the nationalists’ strike in Sindhi, Memon claimed that the majority of markets remained open in Sindh. He also pointed out Jalal Mehmood Shah, the convenor of Save Sindh Movement, for siding with PML-N leaders, who had celebrated the Lahore High Court’s decision. “It has been proved that Shah made an [electoral] alliance with anti-Sindh people.”

Pir Pagara, the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional chief, has also come out against the high court’s decision, saying the party will not allow anyone to build the Kalabagh Dam. “We will resist the project till the last drop of blood in our veins,” he said while speaking at a joint press conference along with Jalal Mehmood Shah.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2012.