After Supreme Court order, Dal Khalsa warns against construction of Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal

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Amritsar, October 6

With the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue taking centre-stage after the Supreme Court passed an order telling the government to come out with a solution, the hardline Sikh group Dal Khalsa has cautioned that any attempt to construct the SYL canal will trigger “rebellion in Punjab”.

The Sikh organisation has categorically stated that the people of Punjab have not allowed the construction of the SYL canal in the past and will not allow it in future also come what may.

“Punjab owns the waters of the rivers Sutlej, Ravi and Beas and no legislation or court could deprive the state of its legitimate right of ownership. We will defend the rights of the Punjab state at any cost and would not let anybody take away the waters forcefully with state’s might and if it will happen, we have a right to resist and fight back,” said Kanwar Pal Singh.

“The pro-Khalistanis have laid down their lives and suffered imprisonment for years to defend the same waters. We won’t let their sacrifices go in vain,” he said.

Party spokesman Paramjit Singh Mand said the contentious canal, one of the main issues in the Punjab conflict, led the state to many long-winded agitations. Clearly, the canal was planned against the universally accepted riparian principles with an eye on depriving Punjab of its scarce water resources, he said.

Mand further said that Punjab is a state whose more than 55 per cent of the river waters are being diverted to non-riparian states like Rajasthan Delhi, J&K and Haryana, either under duress or subterfuge.

The allocation of Punjab’s river waters by successive Central governments has been unjust and illegal as it is violation of the Indian Constitution, which provides no authority to the Union to allocate or administer waters from the rivers of a state that flow only in its territories, he added.