SUKKUR/KHAIRPUR:
The government began face to face conversations with stakeholders in SINDH regarding the question of Indus channels. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, while a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) delegation visited protesting lawyers in Babarloi, Khairpur district.
According to Express News, Shah met with Shehbaz in the Prime Minister, expressing concern about the proposed construction of six new channels on the river Indus. Sources said both sides shared their respective attitudes about the matter.
Earlier in the day, PML-N Sindh President Bashir Memon visited the protesting lawyers who had blocked national highway in Babarloi, Khairpur, and held conversations with the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) President Aamir Nawaz Warraich and other lawyers in an attempt to end sit-in.
Recent developments are seen as a follow -up of the contacts initiated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s adviser to political affairs with various political parties to tackle the widespread protests throughout Sindh. Memon and Rana Sana had reached Sindh Bar Council President Barrister Sarfaraz Metlo by phone and offered to initiate dialogue. Rana Sanaullah also spoke with Sindh senior minister Sharjeel Memon and various nationalist party leaders.
The negotiations between the protesting lawyers and the PML-N delegation ended in Succur, according to sources. The lawyers presented four requirements to the federal government representatives, where the cancellation of the channel project was the highest priority.
Other requirements included concerns about business, Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) and the 26th constitutional amendment. The PML-N delegation invited the lawyers to meet with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The lawyer accepted the offer and a 14-member delegation would meet Shehbaz, it was agreed. “Our most important demand is the issuance of a review of the scrap of the channel project. Our sit-in will continue until it happens. It would be ideal if the prime minister comes to SUKKUR for the conversations,” Warraich said.
MEMON stated that they had received the lawyers’ four-point list, which would be presented to the Prime Minister. “The next meeting will be held directly between the lawyers and the prime minister, where all questions will be resolved,” he said, expressing hope of a positive result.
Meanwhile, PML functional leader Sardar Abdul Rahim, journalists in Ranipur, told Memon to visit the protest site with a message from his party leadership. “The Legal Brotherhood clearly replied: Cancel the Canal project, broadcast the message, and then we will talk,” he said.
