Medha lauds Pak. Sindhis

By Our Special Correspondent

AHMEDABAD, SEPT. 2. The Narmada Bachao Andolan leader, Ms. Medha Patkar, has congratulated the people of Pakistan, particularly the people of Sindh, for compelling their Government to cancel the ``ill- conceived'' Kalabagh dam project and said it would ``reinforce the determination and resistance'' against ``destructive dams'' in the Narmada valley and elsewhere in Asia and other Third World countries.

In a statement, Ms. Patkar said it was the sheer determination, constant action and resistance on the part of the people and the ``ingenuity of converting it into a larger issue'' that compelled political parties to join the protest forcing the Government to take such an unprecedented step for safeguarding the life, resources and rights of the common people. ``The victory'' of the people of Sindh had given a ``boost'' to the struggles in other parts of Asia where too people were resisting such ``unjust displacement and destruction,'' she said.

Claiming that the people in Narmada valley were prepared to face submergence, Ms Patkar said the south Asian countries, including India, would have to chart out a different course for water management and overall development. ``Only then the common people would have true liberty and freedom from internal colonisation,'' Ms. Patkar added.

She also called for ``a new solidarity among all the people in south Asia for a sane, equitable, sustainable and people-oriented development and peace.''

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