Pahalgam terror attack: Blood will flow if India stops river water, Bilawal Bhutto threatens
Islamabad (PTI): Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has threatened that blood would flow in rivers if water is stopped, in a sharp response to India's decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) after the Pahalgam terror attack.
"The Indus is ours and will remain ours - either our water will flow through it, or their blood," the former foreign minister was quoted as saying by The News on Friday while addressing a public rally in the Sukkur area of his home Sindh province.
The Indus flows through the province, and the Indus Valley Civilisation city of Mohenjo-Daro flourished on its banks. And Bilawal said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has claimed India is heir to a civilisation thousands of years old, "But that civilisation lies in Mohenjo-daro, in Larkana. We are its true custodians, and we will defend it."
Bilawal said that Modi cannot sever the aeons-old bond between the people of Sindh and the Indus, adding that "the Indian government has cast its eyes on Pakistan's water, and the situation demands unity among all four provinces to defend and protect their water."
He said that neither the people of Pakistan nor the international community would tolerate Modi's "warmongering" or any attempts to divert the Indus waters away from Pakistan.
"We will send a message to the world that robbery on the Sindhu won't be accepted."
The PPP chairman urged his supporters to prepare for a resolute struggle to defend their river from Indian aggression.
Bilawal, who has also served as Pakistan's youngest foreign minister, said the country and its people condemned the recent terrorist attack in India because Pakistanis themselves remain victims of terrorism.
India on Wednesday downgraded diplomatic ties with Islamabad. That call was taken by India after the attack on Tuesday in Pahalgam that killed 26 people, mostly tourists.
The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility for the attack.
In response to India's decision to suspend the IWT, Pakistan on Thursday threatened to suspend the Simla Agreement and put other bilateral accords with India on hold. Pakistan also suspended all trade, closed its airspace for Indian airlines and said any attempt to divert the water meant for it under the Indus Water Treaty will be considered an Act of War.
The Simla Agreement was signed in 1972. The treaty, signed in Shimla, was inked by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Pakistani President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Bilawal's grandfather.
Also, the PPP chairman announced on Friday that the federal government has now agreed to subject the construction of the controversial six new canals to consensus among all provinces.
"I want to share that the federal government has decided that no new canals will be built without consensus in the CCI (Council of Common Interests)," he said.
CCI is a high-powered inter-provincial body to tackle controversies between provinces.
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MUDA case: Court raps Lokayukta over delay in submitting final report
Bengaluru (PTI): The Special Court for People's Representatives on Thursday expressed displeasure with the Lokayukta for failing to file the final investigation report in the MUDA land site allotment case, involving Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Despite clear directions from the court to submit the final "B report" by December 18 in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) case, the Lokayukta placed only an interim progress report.
Questioning the delay, the judge sought an explanation from Lokayukta officials, who stated that the final report could not be filed as prosecution sanction against certain officials was still awaited.
During the proceedings, the court asked the Special Public Prosecutor to produce the case diary. The prosecutor submitted that the report could be placed before the court in a sealed cover if additional time was granted.
This was strongly opposed by the complainant, activist Snehamayi Krishna, who alleged that there was an attempt to mislead the court.
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Krishna further contended that no meaningful investigation had been conducted and accused the authorities of shielding the accused. He also claimed that no witnesses had been examined, despite specific directions issued by the court.
Observing that it could not pass any order in the absence of a final investigation report, the court adjourned the matter.
The special court deferred its orders on the petitions challenging the Lokayukta's B report and the clean chit granted to CM Siddaramaiah and three others to December 23.
The Lokayukta Police in February had given a clean chit to Siddaramaiah, his wife B M Parvathi, and two other accused in connection with the case, stating that allegations against them have not been proven due to lack of evidence.
Siddaramaiah, his wife, brother-in-law B M Mallikarjun Swamy, Devaraju -- from whom Swamy had purchased a land and gifted it to Parvathi -- and others have been named in the FIR registered by the Lokayukta police on September 27, 2024.
In the site allotment case, it is alleged that 14 compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru (Vijayanagar Layout 3rd and 4th stages), which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been "acquired" by MUDA.
The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where it developed a residential layout.
Under the controversial scheme, MUDA allotted 50 per cent of developed land to the land losers in lieu of undeveloped land acquired from them for forming residential layouts.
It was also alleged that Parvathi had no legal title over the 3.16 acres of land at survey number 464 of Kasare village, Kasaba hobli of Mysuru taluk.
