KHAIRPUR: The All Sindh Lawyers Action Committee has officially called off its province-wide protests after the Council of Common Interests (CCI) decided to withdraw the contentious Indus River canal project for further review. However, one sit-in at Baberlo Bypass in Khairpur will continue for now.
The canal project, which had triggered widespread backlash across Sindh, was overturned by the CCI just a day earlier. It reversed the February 7 decision by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) and referred the matter back to the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) for additional examination.
In response, lawyers who had been protesting for nearly two weeks in various cities declared an end to court strikes and sit-ins, with the exception of the demonstration at Baberlo Bypass — also known locally as Babarlo or Baberloi — in Khairpur district. Protesters at the site, active for the past 12 days, celebrated the development as a major victory.
Sarfaraz Metlo, a leading figure in the lawyers’ movement, announced that a delegation would meet the Sindh government in Sukkur within 24 hours to raise further concerns, particularly about corporate farming practices linked to the canal project. He emphasized that additional demands remain unresolved, including the withdrawal of FIRs against protesting lawyers and the return of confiscated vehicles.
The lawyers also confirmed that the strike in courts across Sindh will officially end on April 30.
Meanwhile, the suspension of protests at the Sindh-Punjab border has restored traffic flow in the area. However, more than 40,000 vehicles remain stranded in parts of the province due to lingering roadblocks.
The President of the Obaro Bar Association confirmed that their week-long protest concluded after authorities agreed to review the controversial initiative, marking what many within the legal community view as a rare success for civic action.
