GDA says it did not participate in APC on water woes due to PPP’s presence

The Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) has said that it did not participate in the all-parties conference conducted on Saturday by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl in Karachi on the issue of water rights of the people because it had objections to the participation of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the multi-party moot.

In a press statement, GDA Secretary General Dr Safdar Abbasi explained that President Asif Ali Zardari, who is the father of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, had given his consent to the move to amend the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) Act at the cost of the water rights of the people of Sindh.

Dr Abbasi said the GDA had declined to participate in the APC despite having cordial ties with the host of the moot. He said that they would not sit with the PPP at any forum till President Asif Ali Zardari completely renounced the plans to amend the Irsa Act and build six new canals on the Indus River.

He said that participating in such a moot alongside the PPP would never serve the legitimate interests of the people of Sindh.

The GDA secretary general was of the view that the ruling PPP could not fool the people of Sindh any more on such vital issues.

He claimed that Zardari, during his current tenure in the presidency, facilitated amendments to the Irsa Act and the construction of six new canals on the Indus River at the cost of the due water rights of the natives of Sindh.

Dr Abbasi said the GDA would accelerate its mass-contact drive against the move to amend the Irsa Act and build new canals to draw additional water from the Indus River.

He said the agitation campaign launched against the move to usurp the legitimate water rights of the people of Sindh would be expanded from Karachi to Kashmore and like-minded political forces would be contacted for the success of the drive.