e are here to offer flowers to River Indus, as a gesture of our love and respect,” said Bakhtawar Benazir. The girl had come with a group of children, aged seven to sixteen, to the riverbank near Taunsa barrage. “Indus River is our lifeline. We cannot live without it,” she said.

Sarang, a boy, said, “We’ve learnt the lesson of love from this river. My mother tells me stories about it when I go to bed. Love for the river is in my veins.”

A stone’s throw away from the children, knee-deep in the rippling water stood Fazl-i-Rab Lund, a middle aged man, his hands folded and eyes closed, begging the river for forgiveness.

“Oh Indus, forgive us, we are deeply ashamed,” he said. “You used to flow freely but we have tamed you and made you a hostage by building dams and barrages. Now, your waters are polluted.”

It was, in part, Lund’s idea to host a festival at the riverbank on the International Day of Action for Rivers. “We came here to reinstate our relationship with the Indus, connect with nature and seek forgiveness. We’ve harmed our environment and, now, our lives, traditions and culture are at stake,” he said.

Fazl-i-Rab is a resident of Shadan Lund where he, his wife and the rest of his relatives run an organisation called Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Practice Alternative Law Collective. “We want to protect the river because our cultural identity and way of life are tied to it,” he said.

An EcoHubMap study has revealed that Indus is one of the most plastic-polluted rivers in the world. Heavy metals, agricultural waste and untreated industrial and domestic effluents, too, contaminate it. These pollutants severely impact the health of the river ecosystem and the people who depend on it.

Indus is the largest river in South Asia and one of the largest in the world. It is 2,000 miles or 3,200 kilometers long. In the Tibet region of China, there is a sub-mountain range of the Himalayas, called Kailash. Lake Mansar, located there is considered the source of the Indus River.

Four important rivers of flow from the lake. According to river mythology, River Sutlej emerges from the mouth of an elephant and flows to the west. The Ganga comes out of the beak of a peacock and flows south. The Brahmaputra flows from the mouth of a horse and goes east. The Indus comes from the mouth of a lion and flows to the north.

“March 14 is celebrated as the International Day of Rivers. CIKPALC and Sindhu Bachao Tarla, a local fishermen’s organisation, jointly organised a gathering on the banks of the Indus River,” says Fazl-i-Rab.

Paying a tribute to the river, Rab said it was a living entity. “Like all other living beings, it thinks, laughs, plays and weeps. If we study indigenous literature worldwide, one thing becomes evident: indigenous people associate nature with life and happiness.”

Paying a tribute to the river, Rab said it was a living entity. “Like other living beings, it thinks, laughs, plays and weeps. It is evident from the study of indigenous literatures worldwide that indigenous peoples associate nature with life and happiness.”

“In contrast, capitalists and those in power view the river through a profit lens, calculating how many canals can be extracted from it, how many dams can be built and how much cash crops grown.”

Fazl-i-Rab said that when a river was seen only from an economic perspective, it was reduced to a mere object and exploited endlessly for financial gain. “There’s a need to change this perspective,” he said.

Khadim Hussain of the Sindhu Bachao Tarla said he opposed the extraction of canals from Indus. “Green Cholistan project poses a severe threat to the existence of the Indus River. Not only will the river’s existence be endangered, but its flora and fauna will also be destroyed. Thousands of birds, forests, the rare Indus dolphin and an entire ecosystem will be lost,” he added.

Amina Bibi from Sindhu Bachao Tarla said that when a river died or changed its course, entire settlements perished. “The more they restrict a river, the greater danger it poses. This will lead to an increase in natural disasters that will disproportionately affect women.”

Ismail Sheikh spoke of his deep connection with the river. “We have lived with the river for centuries; it represents our soul. Our rulers are destroying it for their profits,” he said. “Our Sindhu is dying; and so are we.”

The participants passed several unanimous resolutions. They demanded that the plan to extract more canals from Indus be rejected. They demanded that the river be allowed to flow freely and insisted that building more structures will have catastrophic consequences.

Local people sang river songs and performed the traditional jhumar dance. Children prayed, asking God to remove the veil of greed from the eyes of their elders so that they allow the river to survive.

After the gathering, the participants took out a rally. They carried placards and banners with slogans such as, “No to corporate farming”, “Let the river flow,” “End anti-environment policies,” “Do not deprive indigenous people of the river“ and “The river is not just for corporate interests.

The protesters marched to the riverbank, where they paid tribute to the river by offering flowers to its waters. Jaggery was sprinkled into the river as a gesture of respect and nourishment for aquatic life.

The writer is the bureau chief of The News in Multan. He may be reached at trisign69@yahoo.com