KARACHI: Mumtaz stresses unity to face external threat
By Our Reporter
KARACHI, April 14: The chief of the Sindh National Front, Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, said here on Monday that the US aggression against Iraq had a direct bearing on Pakistan as it gave indication of Pakistan being one of the targets in the march for conquest and colonization.
Pakistan must get ready for the hazards of the future, he said and emphasized that these could not be faced just by the army, navy and the air force.
“There has to be unity among the people and a strong feeling of patriotism, none of which exists today,” he said, adding that in the given situation any foe could have a walkover.
The world, he said, was in the grip of American aggression.
“Everybody is concerned as to what the American conquerors are going to do next and who is their target,” he said, adding: “It also comes to mind that what 9/11 really was and what it is said to be, or was it a deliberate ploy to create justification for wiping out Afghanistan, Iraq and create a springboard for launching attack on Syria, Iran and others.”
He said the US aggression against Iraq was illegal and in violation of the UN charter and had offended the people of the world.
He was concerned that after having gone that far, “is there anything to stop America from treading the path of the ancient conquerors and imperial colonialists of the 18th and 19th centuries and before.”
Mr Bhutto was of the view that it was “absurd for Rumsfeld and other Americans to suggest that the people of Iraq are now free. This is a freedom of the graveyard.”
“The whole country has been destroyed and hundreds of thousands of civilians have been massacred. If this happened in America, would Rumsfeld insist that the Americans are free,” he asked.
Commenting on domestic issues, he said the military rule had once again come in violation of the Constitution and had multiplied problems of the people over the past three and a half years.
Basic necessities of life such a gas, water, electricity, etc were non-existent and corruption was out of control and had never been this high.
“The new ministers, including members of the parliament, have indulged in loot from the first day,” he claimed, saying: “Assemblies have come into being on 65 per cent rigging. So they are not truly representative.”
In any case, he claimed, only about 10-15 per cent voters voted in the elections, and 85 per cent rejected the polls as being unfair and useless and stayed away. Economy was trumpeted as having come back to life but there was no sign of it.
“The increase in the foreign exchange reserves is artificial. It has not come about from an increase in exports, but by the money brought back by Pakistanis who live abroad. They have brought their money back due to hostile conditions all over the world,” he said, adding that the State Bank was buying dollar on the open market.
On the criticism of the LFO and President Musharraf’s insistence on retaining the military fatigue, Mr Bhutto said: “It is pointless to object to the LFO and the president’s uniform when the whole government setup exists in violation of the Constitution.”
He was of the view that the opposition politicians were holding on to straw and looking for face-savers as they did in the taking of oath.
He added that the LFO became part of the Constitution the moment it was declared, but the opposition took the oath of parliament membership on a feeble explanation by the speaker that the oath was under the Constitution.
How could the oath takers be blind to the fact that the LFO had already become part of the 1973 Constitution as was being loudly declared by government functionaries, who claimed that the LFO could not even come under discussion.
The government, he said, was at all levels so weak that it feared taking action to enforce its edict and the law. “It runs away from implementing its own decision and does not have the will to face protest which is part of the process of enforcing the law,” he added.
“Pakistan is in the grip of uncertainty and disorder. The situation, particularly in Sindh, amounts to anarchy in which the government is not visible anywhere. People are making their own arrangements for security and survival, which is leading to the emergence of warlords. In these circumstance, any foe will have a walkover,” he added.
