SNP derides Punjab, condemns Kalabagh

SUKKUR: Hundreds of Sindh National Party (SNP) activists held a demonstration to protest the Kalabagh Dam project and to show their support for Justice (retired) Deedar Hussain Shah’s appointment as the NAB chairman. They staged a sit-in at the National Highway, near Ubauro at the Sindh-Punjab border on Friday.

SNP activists, led by Chairman Ameer Bhambhro, and others shouted slogans against Punjab. They burnt tyres and blocked the highway for around two hours, suspending traffic between Sindh and Punjab.

Pakistan has always been ruled by a particular group from Punjab, claimed Bhambhro. He said now that people are aware of their rights, all provinces must get equal opportunities.

Blaming Punjab for the 1971 split, Bhambhro said Bangladesh was created due to the dictatorial attitude of Punjab and its ‘loot and plunder’ of other provinces. He also said Punjab is responsible for the deteriorating law and order situation in Balochistan these days.

Bhambhro said Sindh is contributing 70 per cent revenue in the national exchequer. It is also meeting the majority of the country’s demand for oil, gas and other natural resources.

Sindh’s people always sacrificed for democracy but they are still being treated like a minority, he claimed.

Strongly criticising Punjab for raising the “dead” issue of Kalabagh Dam, he said three provincial assemblies have expressed their opposition to the project and have adopted unanimous resolutions against building the dam but Punjab is still insisting on its construction. The same purpose can be served by other small dams, Bhambhro said.

The protesters also rallied in support of Shah and celebrated his appointment as the chairman of NAB.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2010.