Sindh, May 21
One person died and several others were injured after police resorted to a baton charge and reportedly opened fire to disperse anti-canal demonstrators in Pakistan's Sindh province, local media reported.
The unrest erupted in the city of Moro, in Sindh's Naushahro Feroze district, where protesters, demonstrating against the construction of proposed canals over the Indus River, had blocked the motorway bypass road.
Police, attempting to restore traffic, prompted the use of force. As the situation escalated, reports of gunfire added to the chaos, according to local media.
Amid the crackdown, a planned roundtable conference by the Sindhi nationalist organisation Sindh Sabha was thwarted following a heavy deployment of security forces and road blockades near the Hyderabad Press Club, as reported.
Police detained several individuals, and multiple Sindh Sabha leaders were confined within the conference hall. The group later confirmed that a team of lawyers intervened and safely escorted their leaders out of the premises.
Sindh Sabha, which has long raised its voice against the enforced disappearances of Sindhi nationalist activists, had organised the conference under the theme "Let's Join Hands to Take Steps for the Survival of Our Natural Homeland Sindh."
The event was meant to gather various nationalist parties to strategise against the exploitation of Sindh's natural resources by the Sharif-led government.