Former
parliamentarian Marvi Memon has appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of the
government’s failure to halt the construction of the Kishenganga dam in the
International Court of Arbitration (ICA).
In a letter written to
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Memon said that water security is
critical to the country’s survival and any negligence or incompetence on the
part of the government needs to be addressed by taking a suo motu notice to
safeguard Pakistanis’ right to water.
Memon quit the Pakistan
Muslim League-Quaid and relinquished her National Assembly seat earlier this
year when her party agreed to enter into a coalition with the ruling Pakistan
Peoples Party.
She stated that Pakistan’s panel of lawyers and experts, led by
Kamal Majidullah, has failed to defend its stance on the issue and convince the
seven-member ICA bench to grant Pakistan a stay
order against the construction of the Kishenganga Dam. She contended that the
failure to stop the dam’s construction and the likelihood of Pakistan losing
the legal battle may be attributed to the incompetence of its legal team which
did not apply for a stay order against the project in January.
After Pakistan objected to India’s
plan to build the 330MW Kishenganga Hydroelectric Project (KHEP) by diverting
the Neelam River
in violation of the Indus Water Treaty 1960, the ICA
had constituted a bench in The Hague
to hear the dispute in January. She referred to the general opinion that the
legal team is not technically and legally competent to represent Pakistan, a
claim voiced by many experts including Arshad Abbasi. She said the team
leader’s main qualification was good relations with the highest officers.
The ICA took serious notice of the environmental
impact of KHEP and the under construction Neelam-Jhelum Project in Neelam
valley, she wrote. Referring to abstracts of a report quoted in the
international media on the environmental impact of KHEP prepared by the
Islamabad-based independent think-tank Sustainable Development Policy
Institute, the ICA
instructed legal representatives of the Indian government to submit a
comprehensive environmental impact assessment report on the next hearing.
“Whilst I as a former
member of parliament […] wish to see good relations with India, it cannot be at the loss of Pakistan’s
national interest including water and subsequently food security,” she said.
Memon also alleged that
the composite dialogue process has suffered tremendously since this government
was voted into power. Appeasement and a non-serious attitude in tackling key
issues within the process have led to Pakistan failing to maintain its
relations in the region, she maintained.
“I would urge you to take
suo motu notice of the criminal negligence shown by each member of the legal
team which might just enable India to complete the controversial Kishenganga
Hydropower Project to the detriment of Pakistan’s water security,” she
requested the chief justice in the letter.
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