Aimed at highlighting the water needs of Pakistan, a unique demonstration was held on the bank of Ravi River under the banner of Minhaj-ul-Quran Youth League (MYL) on October 29, 2008. Attended by hundreds of the youth, the participants expressed their deep concern over the Indian act of halting Pakistan’s water dubbing it as ‘water terrorism’ and sign of hegemonic tendencies on the part of India. They urged the government of Pakistan to immediately start construction of new dams on the war-footing basis for the survival of the country.

Addressing the participants, MYL President, Bilal Mustafvi, said that the Indian decision to unilaterally halt Pakistan’s water has damaged 14 million acres of crops, causing a loss of about 80 billion rupees to the country. He said that we demand of the Indian government to resume the supply of halted water to Pakistan by complying with the provisions of Indus Water Basin Treaty and international law. “We also ask the Pakistani government to immediately undertake construction of new dams to meet the water needs of our agriculture and power generation, he added”. He said time was passing very quickly and if no timely action was taken to address the critical situation, it would damage Pakistan to irreparable extent. He said all national and provincial leaders needed to sit together across the table in a bid to carve out consensus for larger national interests.

Speaking at the occasion, Secretary General MYL, Chaudhry Zaheer Abbas Gujjar, said that the decision of the neighbours to halt water reminded one of the epoch of Karbla. Those who addressed the audience included Ishtiaq Hanif Mughal, Muhammad Tayyab Zia, Imran Bhatti, Dr Iqbal Anwar and Saeed Bhatti.