Awami, Sindhiani Tehreek Condemn President Zardari’s ‘Cholistan Canal’ Approval, demand repealing IRSA Amendment
Mirpur Khas/ Naoukot
A 3-kilometer protest march was organized on Saturday March 15 by the Awami Tehreek and Sindhyani Tehreek from Gulanji Mori to Khwaja Chowk in Naou Kot town of Mirpurkhas district, opposing the construction of six new canals from the Indus River and corporate farming projects encroaching on millions of acres of Sindh’s land.
The march saw massive participation from women, children, and civil society, with strong condemnation of the controversial canals, corporate farming, the so-called Green Pakistan Initiative, the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), and the IRSA Amendment Ordinance.
Addressing the March, Awami Tehreek’s Central President Advocate Vasand Thari, Central Information Secretary Lal Jarwar, Mukhtiar Khaskheli, Advocate Ayaz Kaloi, and Sindhyani Tehreek’s Azmat Kaloi denounced the six new canals as a “genocidal plan” threatening 70 million Sindhis. They accused Punjab’s rulers of exploiting Sindh’s water resources for over 150 years through dams and canals, while President Asif Zardari was criticized for “brokering Sindh’s resources” by approving the canals during the July 8, 2024, Green Pakistan Initiative meeting (which he chaired) and endorsing the IRSA Amendment.
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was condemned for selling Sindh’s lands and water for power, Leaders labeled the Sindh Assembly’s resolution on the canal matter as “fraudulent”—comparable to the disputed digital census, noting that the PPP-led Sindh government initially opposed the digital census but later approved it, a repeat of its earlier hypocrisy. They accused the PPP of playing the same deceptive game” aimed at undermining Sindh’s rights.
They added that Instead of new canals, Punjab’s “illegal” waterways, including the Taunsa-Panjnad and Chashma-Jhelum (CJ) Link Canals, must be shut down to ensure Sindh receives its rightful water share. Leaders highlighted that IRSA illegally diverts water to these flood canals. Despite Sindh facing over 50% water shortages, as per IRSA’s own data. Protesters demanded legal action—including invoking Article 6 (pertaining to treason)—against IRSA members for issuing “fake water availability certificates” to Punjab’s Cholistan Canal while denying Sindh its due share under the 1991 Accord. “IRSA is conspiring against the federation by favoring Punjab’s elite,” speakers declared.
Leaders rejected corporate farming as a scheme to auction Sindh’s lands, asserting that “Sindh’s lands belong to its people, not governments or corporations.” They warned that the new canals would accelerate the “economic genocide” of Sindhis, exacerbating the region’s ecological collapse. Severe water shortage have already turned fertile lands barren, destroyed livelihoods, and forced mass migration. The PPP-led provincial and federal governments were slammed for prioritizing corporate interests over Sindh’s survival.
Sindh must be compensated for losses stemming from Punjab’s violations of the 1945 Sindh-Punjab Water Agreement and the 1991 Water Accord. Although the 1991 Accord was forcibly imposed by the federal government and remains unfavorable to Sindh, Punjab’s ruling class continues to breach even this skewed agreement.
The protesters vowed to defend the Indus River until their last breath. Sindhyani Tehreek’s women leaders pledged to bury these canal projects just as we defeated the Kalabagh Dam.
Read: Indus River Issue: Sindh calls for international intervention
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