SINDH recently experienced upheaval in the form of weeks-long agitation and dharnas against the proposal to construct new canals on the already stressed Indus River System. The anti-canals movement (ACM) was unique in many ways and deserves to be explored to understand the impact it may have left on politics in Sindh and the rest of the country.

The cause: The ‘protection’ of the Indus has too many meanings in the context of Sindh. A great majority of indigenous people have had a spiritual and historical affinity with the river that has sustained livelihoods, identities, settlements, demography and culture. For the environmentalist, the Indus is the preserver of the ecology — the delta, marine life, the coastal lands and communities. For the constitutionalists, the executive fiats threatening the due share of Sindh, the lower riparian, violate the constitutional architecture that provides for the distribution of powers and resources, including water, within the federation. And finally, for the nationalists and proponents of provincial autonomy, the proposed diversion of water from the Indus River System in the name of corporate farming posed a grave threat to Sindh’s security and integrity. Thus, the river is a point of convergence for varied, even rival, forces on a single agenda — saving the Indus.

The leadership: An amazing feature of this mass movement was its spontaneity. Though various political parties, particularly nationalists, lawyers and civil society, played a significant role in marshalling the ACM, a great majority of the people took to the streets on their own, without being galvanised or guided by a central leadership. In fact, the........

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