WATER POLITICS

On a crisp Karachi morning I meet Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Jr; he is calm, approachable, and dressed in an equally crisp white shalwar kameez (a traditional South and Central Asian outfit). In his office, at Fateh Point Archives, 71 Clifton, he is surrounded by rare photographs of the Bhutto family and an eclectic selection of books – his aunt Benazir Bhutto’s autobiography, Daughter of the East, contrasts with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. (Bhutto casually explains he is “into bodybuilding”.)

A house of symbols and struggles

The road leading to this address is flanked by a giant poster of Bhutto Jr’s father, the late Mir Murtaza Bhutto. The politician was assassinated near this residence in 1996, after a confrontation with the police. His half-sister, Fatima Bhutto, holds her paternal aunt and uncle, Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari, “morally responsible” for their father’s murder. Outside, the walls of the family home are covered in symbols of identity and resistance: a Sindhi-language alphabet; a map of Sindh with the Indus River flowing through it; a Palestinian map and flag; a picture of the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem; and a clenched fist above an unsheathed sword, painted onto the main gate. The message is clear: this is a space where history and defiance converge.

An artist, environmentalist and activist, Bhutto Jr is named after his grandfather, the former Pakistani president, and then prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Through his environmental organisation, Bulhan Bachao (Save the Bulhan in Sindhi), he works to protect the Indus River and the endangered, blind Indus River dolphin (the bulhan). “We’re so lucky to have one of the rarest freshwater marine mammals surviving in a river that’s so stressed, heavily exploited and dying,” he says.

His affinity with the bulhan is more than symbolic – he proudly reveals a tattoo of the animal. “It’s a beautiful, delicate, shy, obscure survivor. For me, it’s a symbol of resilience. It’s an integral part of my faith to fight for its survival. It embodies the struggles of the Sindhi people; both depend on the Indus for their existence.”

Damned if they do, damned if they don’t

Recently, Bhutto has been part of protests against the controversial Six Canals Project. He strongly opposes the development, calling it a potential disaster for Sindh’s already scarce water resources. Bhutto repeats his warnings to me: “It will lead to starvation and possibly famine. With climate change already reducing water availability, we are more reliant than ever on the little that remains.”

He says the project will exacerbate water shortages, threaten agricultural livelihoods and lead to environmental degradation. His statements have resonated with many in downstream Sindh, where fears are growing that the province’s water rights are being overlooked in favour of upstream Punjab. Both ruling and opposition parties in Sindh have voiced concerns over the project’s long-term impact.

The federal government plans to build the canals off the Indus River, in Punjab, to irrigate the Cholistan Desert in the south of the province. But the people of Sindh, already suffering from chronic water shortages, fear this will further deplete their share. The concern is real: Pakistan’s Meteorological Department reported a 52% drop in rainfall in Sindh between September 2024 and mid-January 2025. The Indus provides close to 90% of Pakistan’s agricultural water.

“Statistically speaking, there’s no possible way that they can hold that much water and redistribute it upstream to Cholistan. By the time it reaches Cholistan, evaporation, seepage and outright theft will have depleted it,” Bhutto argues.

All major political parties in Sindh, including the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), oppose the Six Canals Project. However, opposition leaders accuse the PPP of not doing enough to protect Sindh’s water interests.

Mid-conversation, Bhutto suddenly rises, his gaze fixing on a slightly askew frame. He strides over, adjusting it with practiced precision, before stepping back to assess his work. “Is it straight now?” he asks, his brow furrowed, revealing a quiet preoccupation with order.

Looking at the history of water developments in Sindh, Bhutto references British colonial interventions in water-scarce areas. “They decided to produce rice in Larkana, where there had never been rice. Prior to construction of the Sukkur barrage, rice was grown in Thatta, because it had access to more water from the delta. But the British killed the delta. Now look at Thatta’s land: salt-ridden and infertile. Some 60-75% of water withdrawn is lost in Sindh, due to evaporation or seepage into saline groundwater,” he says. Over time, Bhutto adds, minerals build up and the land becomes unproductive. “We are left with saline and waterlogged land, in which many native trees and crops can’t grow. Large parts of northern Sindh have been rendered inarable due to these experiments with water.”

Bhutto warns Cholistan could suffer the same fate. “I would potentially buy into this if the project was benefiting landless farmers, but it doesn’t.”

Tensions between Sindh and Punjab over water are not new. Data from the Indus River System Authority shows Sindh faced a 40% water shortage between 1999 and 2023. Bhutto believes the government should focus on managing smaller seasonal rivers, instead of overburdening the Indus: “The floods showed us that we have so much potential for water storage outside of the Indus mainstream.”

Pakistan has so many dams – 150! That’s more than most developed countries. The idea that dams equal progress is a myth.

When asked about the Diamer Bhasha Dam, Bhutto is sceptical. While it could have a modest positive impact, he says the country already has enough dams. “Pakistan has so many dams – 150! That’s more than most developed countries. The idea that dams equal progress is a myth. While a dam may provide things like energy and mass hydropower … over time they silt up.” He gives Sukkur as an example, where the riverbed has risen so high that floods are now common. There was a time when you could see the steps leading up to the Sadh Belo temple. Now, water laps at the top of the stairs.”

According to Bhutto, “building dams is about optics. It’s a way to spend money quickly where it’s not needed.” He stops for a moment, before launching into a tirade against the entrenched mindset of policymakers who see mega-projects as the only solution to water management. “We need to think more creatively. Why are we, as a nation, so intellectually stunted that we can only think of this one monster – the dam? This is how Sindh is sabotaged. Our water has been taken hostage from us. It’s leveraged constantly, and the threat of less water coming to us has been a threat since the inception of Pakistan.”

Too many dams, too little land

Among Bhutto’s perceived priorities for Pakistan is the need for land reforms. “It should make people ill to think that in a country as poor as ours, billions of rupees are being spent on a project that benefits less than 0.5% of the population. Surely, if you’re going to spend so much, it should be for the betterment of the poor. But the poor are going to be expected to do what they’ve always done, which is work for nothing for someone who couldn’t care less about them.” His tone is laced with frustration and irony.

Bhutto says his haris (farmers) are also deserving of land ownership. “A farmer needs to have security that the land that he works on is in fact his – in his name, in his child’s name – and that no one is going to come take it. Reforms that guarantee that farmers are seen as human beings, as malik [owners] and not just nokar [servants]. My grandfather gave up a significant portion of his land to haris in Sindh,” he claims.

As a member of Pakistan’s premier political dynasty, Bhutto is aware of the weight his words carry: “When I speak, it lands differently. I can’t help that, and I’m not naive about it. I use my voice for what matters.”

On Pakistan’s climate response, he is blunt: the country – like much of the world – does little more than pay lip service: “Look at the Loss and Damage Fund from COP27. More than two years later, people displaced by the 2022 floods remain homeless”.

What should Pakistan and others do? While he acknowledges richer nations are “responsible for more emissions”, Bhutto urges local action, too. In particular, the restoration of the Indus River’s natural course, to ensure its waters reach Sindh’s parched lands. “Make the river flow to the sea.”