GDA seeks public support for Sept 19 demos against proposed Irsa Act amendments

Leaders of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) have appealed to the people of Sindh to fully participate in the protest demonstrations planned to be held across the province on September 19 against the proposed amendments to the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) Act to protect the fundamental water rights of the inhabitants of the province.

A statement issued on Saturday quoted GDA Chief Coordinator Pir Sadaruddin Shah Rashidi as saying that building new canals to draw additional water from the Indus River and amending the Irsa Act was tantamount to attempting to occupy Sindh.

He hoped that the people of Sindh would fully participate in the peaceful protest demonstrations on September 19 to foil any such attempt.

GDA Secretary General Dr Safar Abbasi said that a protest demonstration would be held in every district headquarters in Sindh on September 19 to hold the present rulers accountable for their “anti-people policies and decisions”.

Former Sindh chief minister Liaquat Ali Khan Jatoi said that hundreds of thousands of acres of farmlands in Sindh had already been rendered barren due to an artificial shortage of river water. He said the “conspiracy” to amend the Irsa Act to further harm the farming activities in Sindh should come to an end.

Former federal minister Mir Ghulam Murtaza Khan Jatoi hoped that people in the entire province would take to the streets to get rid of the “corrupt rulers”. He alleged that the Presidency in Islamabad had been involved in hatching anti-Sindh conspiracies.