Karachi, April 22, 2025: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Tuesday called on protesters opposing the controversial canal construction project to demonstrate peacefully and avoid causing hardship to the public by blocking roads and highways.
Speaking at a press conference in Karachi, CM Murad emphasized the importance of keeping the protest within civil bounds.
“Lawyers and nationalists have every right to protest, but they must not trouble their own people,” he said.
Murad Ali Shah reiterated that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the protesters share the same concerns about the federal canal initiative, warning that his party, too, would take to the streets if dialogue with the federal government fails to deliver results.
The controversy stems from the Green Pakistan Initiative, launched in February 2025 by Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. The project, aimed at transforming agriculture in Cholistan through six new canals drawn from the Indus River, sparked widespread opposition in Sindh.
The Sindh Assembly unanimously passed a resolution in March rejecting the canal project, while nationalist parties, including the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), have led large-scale rallies across the province.
In his strongest remarks yet, CM Murad declared, “The Sindh government and the PPP, with the power of the people, will not allow the construction of this canal project. It will be blocked at all costs.”
He pointed out that the project has been inactive since July 2024 and questioned why it had not been formally scrapped, despite lacking federal approval since November.
“Even Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif understands the grave consequences of this project. We expect him to act justly,” Shah added.
On the streets of Karachi, the Save Indus Students Alliance, supported by Karachi Bachao Tehreek and others, held a protest march from Teen Talwar to Fawara Chowk. The protest was also joined by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Jr., drawing attention to the public outcry over potential environmental and water rights violations.
