- Road demonstrations disrupt transport between Sindh, Punjab.
- The courts boycotted in several cities of the Sindh by lawyers.
- Textile exports stuck at 1,000 containers are interrupted.
The protests against the proposed channel project of the River Indus continue to spread through the Sindh, bringing road transport and legal operations to stop various districts.
Lawyers have announced that sit-ins will persist until the government officially cancels the project.
In Khairpur, the sit-in by lawyers entered its ninth day during the Babarlou bypass on the national road. In Ghotki, two sit-in continues-one by nationalist groups on the mangrio pump site near Daharki, and another by lawyers on the Sindh-Punjab border near Kamo Shaheed.
The two groups promised to maintain their protests until a notification confirming the cancellation of the project was issued – despite the insurance of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that no channel would be built without consensus.
Prime Minister Shehbaz and PPP President Bilawal Bhutto Zardari held a meeting with high issues in Islamabad on Thursday after weeks of climbing disorders across the Sindh.
During a joint press conference, the Prime Minister announced that no canal would be built unless there is a consensus in the Common interest Council (CCI).
He confirmed that the next CCI meeting on May 2 would officially approve the agreement concluded with the PPP.
Meanwhile, the current demonstrations, joined by members of civil society, led to the complete suspension of freight transport between Sindh and Punjab.
The Sindh Bar Council also declared a strike on the province, resulting in a general disruption of legal proceedings. The courts of Hyderabad, Larkana, Nawabshah, Jacobabad and other cities were boycotted, the city court remaining locked up on Friday. Hundreds of cases have been postponed without hearing, leaving the litigants in distress.
The transport blockade has experienced serious repercussions beyond the Sindh. In Faisalabad, more than 1,000 containers belonging to the textile sector – export and import – remain blocked due to road closings in the Sindh. This caused a critical shortage of raw materials, disturbing factory production.
According to officials from the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce, two export ships have already been missed, which has an impact on exports planned two weeks ago.
Talk to PK Press Club NewsThe president of the Chamber has described the situation as a serious and urged the immediate intervention of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the head of the army Asim Munnir, and the chief minister of Sindh Murad Ali Shah.
He warned that continuous disturbances could cause irreparable damage to the economy of Pakistan and have called on all the authorities concerned to help quickly restore operations.
“We understand that the government is trying to improve, but such incidents harm our exports,” he said.
