QWP opposes amendments to Irsa Act

PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) provincial Chairman Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao on Wednesday opposed the proposed amendments to the Indus River System Authority Act 1992.

In a statement, he said the QWP would not compromise on the provincial rights and would resist with full force any bid to amend the Act.Sikandar Sherpao said the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) was established to monitor the distribution of water from the Indus River among the federating units.

Commenting on the appointment of a grade-22 officer as the IRSA chairman, he said this would complicate the issue as KP was already not getting its due share of water. He said the QWP would continue its struggle to get the rights of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa enshrined in the 1973 Constitution.

The QWP leader said true representatives of the Pakhtuns were made to lose the recent general election in order to keep them out of the Parliament under a conspiracy. “We will not rest until the province gets its due rights,” he vowed, adding the QWP leadership would raise its voice against injustice being meted out to the province. He said the QWP would not let the Pakhtuns down and would continue to raise their voice for their rights.

Sikandar Sherpao said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly should introduce a resolution to reject the proposed changes to the Act like the Sindh Assembly.However, he said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders and its provincial government were least bothered to pay any attention to the issues of the province as they were obsessed with staging protests. The QWP leader said KP had been pushed to the brink of default to the ill-conceived policies of the rulers.