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'Canal
closure to hit south Punjab'
By A Correspondent
MULTAN, March 15: The government decision of closing canals in
the Punjab to provide water to Sindh will ruin the standing
crop in southern Punjab. This was stated by Pakistan Seraiki
Party (PSP) chief barrister Taj Muhammad Langah at a meeting
here on Friday.
A party press release termed the arrangement of Indus River
System Authority (IRSA) unjustified. It said the water being
given to Sindh was the share of Seraiki belt which was the
heartland of the country's agriculture.
Seraiki area had always been made scapegoat to settle disputes
between the Punjab and Sindh for it had no representation on
IRSA or any other forum where water and other disputes were
resolved, it said.
The PSP press release advised Seraiki nationalist parties of
PONM not to play in the hands of what it termed Sindhi
chauvinists. The meeting asked immediate construction of
Greater Thal Canal to compensate the irrigation water shortage
in the Seraiki belt. The proposed canal would serve as a flood
canal and therefore it would not affect the share of
provinces, it added.
Meanwhile, a meeting of the Seraiki unit of Pakistan Oppressed
Nations' Movement (PONM) has demanded postponement of all the
new water projects in the country until the creation of a
Seraiki province.
The meeting of the heads of component parties of PONM was held
here on Thursday with its convener Hameed Asghar Shaheen in
the chair. The PONM leaders said they would not accept any
water accord unless the 'Seraiki nation' was not considered a
part to the issues of water distribution among provinces.
"Work on all projects, including Upper Thal canal and Kalabah
dam, should be stopped immediately to first have the Seraikis'
point of view on these vital subjects," they added.
The meeting expressed concern over the political and economic
mess in the country and accused the military and civil
bureaucracy and their puppet politicians for what the PONM
said internal and external crisis. It was observed that the
Lahore Resolution of 1940 promised sovereignty to all the
federating units who voted for a separate homeland.
"Unfortunately, the military dictators belonging to Punjab
have been ruling the roost," the PONM leaders lamented.
They observed that the political situation of the country
demanded that the federating units including the Seraiki
province be redemarcated. It was suggested that to achieve
this goal the judges who did not take oath under the PCO
(Provincial Constitutional Order) be handed over the task.
They should also be entrusted with the task to conduct fresh
elections. The new assembly should draft a new constitution
which ensured equal representation of all the federating
units.
It was decided that the central command of the movement would
be suggested to take part in the coming general elections from
the platform of PONM and also formed alliance with other
like-minded political parties.
The PONM, Seraikistan, urged the Trading Corporation of
Pakistan (TCP) to procure cotton stocks to save the cotton
belt from economic destruction. It also urged the government
to procure wheat at the rate of Rs400 per 40 kilograms besides
reducing the prices of inputs like fertilizers, diesel and
pesticides, etc.
The PONM meeting expressed concern over the neglect of
monuments in this part of the country, especially in Multan,
which was among a few oldest living cities on this planet.
The PONM also released a list of the recipients of lands in
Yazman, Bahawalpur district, which were supposed to benefit
from the proposed Thal canal and Kalabagh dam. The list
included the names of President Gen Pervez Musharraf, interior
minister Moeenuddin Haider, Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool,
Lahore Corps Commander Zarar Niazi.
March 15, 2002
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Pakissan.com;
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