Pak: Lawyers continue protest as CCI fails to build consensus over canal project

Sindh, April 29 (IANS) Protest intensified in Sindh province of Pakistan against the construction of six new canals on the Indus River, as the declaration of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) has failed to build any consensus among the protesting lawyers.

The lawyers' association, unsatisfied with the CCI proposal, decided to continue with their sit-in protest, which started last week at the Babarloi bypass in Khairpur district, local media reported.

The CCI, recognized as the highest constitutional body in Pakistan, was originally scheduled to convene on May 2. However, it was rescheduled to meet on Monday due to the deteriorating situation in Sindh amid ongoing protests against the canal project.

But the “hurriedly-called” CCI did not announce the complete abandonment of the six-canal project. Rather, it endorsed the earlier stance of the federal government that the project will only move if the CCI and the provinces reach a consensus, Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune reported.

“The CCI endorses the policy of the federal government. The federal government has decided that no new canals will be built without mutual understanding from CCI. It has been decided that the federal government will not move further until mutual understanding is evolved among the provinces,” an official statement released after the meeting stated.

Addressing the media in Kashmore-Kandhkot district, Sindh High Court Bar Association President Barrister Sarfaraz Ali Metlo stated that the lawyers' demand is the issuance of notifications declaring the cancellation of not only the six canals project but also the corporate farming as well. He stated that the lawyers' sit-ins will not cease over the CCI's announcement.

“We have been demanding from day one that the government should notify cancellation of both, the six canal projects and the corporate farming,” he stated.

He warned that if the governments delay in issuing the notifications, protests will intensify and spread in the province.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Advocate Sajjad Ahmed Chandio, a member of the lawyers committee constituted to negotiate with the government, stated that a majority of the lawyers have rejected the CCI's decision.

The declaration of the CCI had also not gone well with the nationalist leaders and social activists who are similarly demanding the cancellation of the project.

One of the social activists, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Jr said that the CCI's decision does not reflect their demand to cancel the canals and corporate farming project.

“The government is also not listening to the people's wishes because this CCI meeting was called in an emergency, in fear of the people,” he added.

--IANS

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