Islamabad, Apr 20: A Pakistani Hindu Minister of State was attacked in Sindh by protestors opposing the federal government’s controversial irrigation canal projects on the pretext that it would reduce the downward flow of rivers that are key for irrigation in the southern province.
Kheal Das Kohistani, state minister for religious affairs in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government, was driving through the Thatta district of the province on Saturday when his motorcade was pelted with tomatoes and potatoes.
Officials said that Kohistani remained unharmed in the attack.
Meanwhile, police have arrested Sindh Taraqi Pasand party’s leader Syed Jalal Shah for his involvement in the attack on the convoy of Kohistani.
An FIR named several other activists of his party.
Prime Minister Shehbaz strongly condemned the attack on Kohistani and assured him of a thorough investigation into the incident.
“The attack on the public representatives is unacceptable. The persons involved in the incident would be given exemplary punishment,” he said.
Kohistani is a member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the protesters also chanted slogans against the party’s federal government.
Federal Minister for Information Atta Tarar also took notice of the incident and declared it “an attack”.
He also sought details of the incident from Sindh Inspector General Police (IGP) Ghulam Nabi Memon and a report from the federal interior secretary.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah also strongly condemned the act in the strongest terms. In his statement, he said that no one has the right to take the law into their own hands.
He directed the Deputy Inspector General of police for the Hyderabad region to immediately arrest the miscreants involved in the attack and submit a report.
According to personal details on the website of the National Assembly, Kohistani hails from the Jamshoro district of Sindh and he was for the first time elected as a member of the parliament in 2018 on the ticket of PML-N.
After serving for the full five-year term, he was reelected in 2024 and also got the nod for elevation to become minister of the state.
The federal government has announced that there is a proposal to construct six canals in the Punjab province to irrigate land in the Cholistan region under the Green Pakistan Initiative – a project having the support of the powerful army, the federal government and the Punjab provincial administration.
However, various parties and nationalist groups in Sindh have been protesting against the project with the plea that the canals would reduce the downstream flow of water and adversely affect irrigation in the province.
The attackers were protesting against the proposed canals. (PTI)
