The Sindhis are peaceful, resolute, and ready to reclaim their river, land, and dignity
Hyderabad, Sindh
Central leaders of Awami Tehreek and its women wing Sindhyani Tehreek, gave a powerful call to arms for the 70 million Sindhis, vowing to resist the theft of their water, the corporate plunder of their lands, and the treachery of their so-called leaders.
Advocate Wasand Thari, President, Awami Tehreek, addressing a press conference on Saturday at Hyderabad press club, declared that Pakistan remains a prisoner of British imperialism and Punjab’s predatory elite, who have subjugated Sindh for 172 years through a calculated campaign of exploitation.
“Punjab’s rulers have pillaged Sindh’s water for over a century, building canals and channels to strangle our lifeline, committing genocide against 70 million Sindhis,” Thari contended. He accused Punjab of orchestrating an existential assault on Sindh, diverting its water to fuel corporate greed while Sindh’s own rulers—reduced to mere puppets—sell out their people. “The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), a mouthpiece not of the Sindhi masses but of a handful of ruthless feudal lords, has bartered away the Sindhu River for a presidential seat, hawking our lands, resources, and river through corporate farming and the SIFC,” he charged.
Speaking of the PPP’s duplicity, he said alleging its insatiable lust for a powerless prime minister’s chair drives it to any betrayal. “Their words at yesterday’s rally expose their deceit,” he said, slamming the Bilawal-Shahbaz coalition for enforcing an undeclared “One Unit” agenda. He issued a stark warning: “The 70 million Sindhis will never accept the sale of our land and river. You’ve seen our rage in Ramadan and on Eid—this is just the beginning.” Committed to a peaceful democratic struggle, he distanced the movement from any violence-seeking factions, asserting, “The Sindhi nation shattered the martial laws of Zia, Ayub, and Musharraf with peaceful resistance, and we will bury these canals and corporate schemes the same way.”
The Awami Tehreek leader exposed the Bilawal-Shahbaz coalition’s land grab: 1.3 million acres of Sindh’s soil—part of 4.8 million acres nationwide—ripped from local landless farmers and gifted to foreign investors via the military-backed Green Pakistan Initiative. “This isn’t corporate farming—it’s occupation in disguise,” Thari said. He alleged PTI’s Arif Alvi and the PDM coalition in this plunder, enabled by laws like the SIFC and Board of Investment Amendment Act 2023, rammed through in a single day. “The establishment has armed itself with legislation to steal land, build canals, crush the judiciary, silence free speech, harass journalists, and impose education-hating retirees on our institutions—rewarding this treachery with a Form 47 election farce,” he said, rejecting this “illegal, unconstitutional” regime.
Sindh’s Non-Negotiable Demands
Thari laid out the Sindhi nation’s unshakable demands:
End the SIFC’s “One Unit”: Dismantle this oppressive framework and restore democracy now.
Halt Corporate Farming: Scrap these projects and return Sindh’s lands to local landless farmers and women, not foreign profiteers.
Stop Water Theft: Cut off Sindh’s water to corporate entities and abandon the six new “strategic” canals meant to devastate Sindh and other oppressed nations.
Reckoning for 172 Years: Hold Punjab accountable for violating national, Islamic, and international laws—including the Anderson Committee, Cotton Committee, 1945 Sindh-Punjab Agreement, and 1991 accord—turning lush Sindh into a barren waste.
Thari cataloged Punjab’s crimes: unauthorized canals like Central Bari Doab (1858), Sidhnai (1885), Lower Chenab, Lower Jhelum, Paharpur (1908), Upper Swat (1914), and the Triple Canal Project (1915)—all built in defiance of Sindh’s rights and international law. “These are war crimes,” he insisted, citing the Government of India Act 1935 and Rao Commission, which uphold lower riparian rights. He demanded an international commission to settle the Sindh-Punjab water dispute and deliver justice for injustices since 1853.
A Nation on the Brink
Thari painted a grim reality: the Indus, once releasing 150 MAF of water to the sea, now limps at 10 MAF under the 1991 accord—often nothing outside floods—killing the Indus Delta and its world-renowned mangroves. “Our people lack drinking water, our livestock perish, and six new canals for corporate farming threaten to turn Sindh into a desert,” he warned. As the world dismantles dams and canals, Punjab’s mafia builds more, dooming the nation for profit.
A Relentless Struggle
Awami Tehreek pledges an unrelenting fight. On June 21, 2025, a nationwide rally marking Rasool Bux Palijo’s 7th death anniversary will unite oppressed nations against corporate farming and canals. Protests will erupt across Sindh: Sujawal (April 12), Mithi (April 13), Tando Bago (April 13), Jati Chowk (April 19), Qambar (April 6), Baghana (April 6), Johi (April 16), and Larkana (May 3), culminating in International Peasants’ Struggle Day on April 17. “This is our battle for survival,” Thari vowed.
Joined by senior leaders like Noor Ahmed Katiyar, Dr. Marvi Sindhu, and others, Thari signaled an unbreakable front. The 70 million Sindhis have risen—peaceful, resolute, and ready to reclaim their river, land, and dignity.
Read: Indus River: It’s more than just water
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