LAHORE, Jan 20: Senate Chairman Muhammadmian Soomro has said that Kashmir and nuclear scientists' interrogation are sensitive issues, which need a patient and cool-headed consideration.

He was speaking at a meeting held on Tuesday in connection with the death anniversary of Muslim League leader Chaudhry Muhammad Hussain Chattha. It was organized by the Nazaria-i-Pakistan Foundation and the Pakistan Movement Workers Trust at their auditorium.

Mr Soomro said that these issues should not be viewed with a sentimental approach but with reason and patience. There had been no secret deal nor any sell-out of Kashmir but an agreement between Pakistan and India to hold negotiations on the issue.

The acting president said that Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri had made it clear that there would be no solution of the issue without the consent of the representatives of the people of Kashmir.

He said that country's nuclear scientists were respectable persons and all efforts would be made for their proper care. A vilification campaign had been started against Pakistan at international level on the issue of nuclear proliferation. Now either Pakistan should ignore the campaign or take some measures to satisfy them, he said.

He, however, assured the people that the government had all respect for its nuclear scientists. Mr Soomro also emphasized the need for solving the national issues with negotiations and proper understanding for maintaining national unity and integrity.

All issues and differences could be resolved through interaction with one another. Water was the main issue among the provinces. The issue was not that water reservoirs and dams should not be constructed but the proper and equitable distribution of water among the provinces that could be settled through mutual understanding and negotiations.

Water was needed for every one. The people of the four provinces of the country had supported the demand for Pakistan and had actively participated in the Independence Movement.

Sindh was the first province to support the Pakistan Resolution. The people of NWFP and Balochistan had voted for Pakistan in referendums held there and so the people of Punjab had overwhelmingly supported the Pakistan Movement. Only a negligible number of people were against Pakistan.

He appreciated the decision of the Nazaria-i-Pakistan Foundation for observing the year 2004 as Youth Year and said that the youth had taken keen interest in the Pakistan Movement. He said that the importance of youth for the reconstruction of Pakistan could not be ignored. "They are our identity."

Mr Soomro supported the suggestion for a national emblem for the uniforms of schools students. He said that the foundation had provided a forum for discussions on national issues. He promised to donate books for the foundation library.

The acting president said that Chaudhry Muhammad Hussain Chattha was a staunch Muslim League leader who had always worked for the welfare of the people.

Former governor Malik Ghulam Mustafa Khar said that he had been staunch advocate of the construction of Kalabagh Dam and other large dams in the country as he rightly believed that damage caused by water shortage would be more disastrous for Pakistan than the one caused by atomic bomb.

"But you cannot build the Kalabagh dam or any other dam by using force. Consensus of the all people of the country is the need of the hour." He appreciated the suggestion made by Senator S.M. Zafar that issues should be settled through negotiations and interaction of the people. He said that negotiations should be for national and not vested interests.

Mr Khar also emphasized the need for national unity, which, he said, could not be forged by force but by mutual understanding and negotiations for which the political leaders would be required to change their attitudes.

He said the late Mr Chattha was a great friend of his despite the political differences. Senator S.M. Zafar advocated that the experiment to resolve the constitutional crisis through negotiation had been a great success. He suggested that all other national issues should be settled through negotiations in the same spirit.

He said that unfortunately the political leadership failed to achieve positive results through negotiations in the past and the result was dissolution of assemblies and political chaos and confusion.

He also emphasized the need for unifying various factions of the Muslim League through a dialogue. Foundation president Majid Nizami emphasized the need for unifying Muslim League.

CPNE former president Mujibur Rahman Shami took strong exception to 'humiliation' of Pakistani nuclear scientists by raiding their houses to arrest them for interrogations.

He said that it was not their insult but that of the entire nation. He said that their contribution to make Pakistan a nuclear power could not be underestimated and they did not deserve the treatment, which the government was meting out with them.Others who paid tributes to Mr Chattha included his son Senator Naeem Hussain Chattha, his grandson MPA Abid Hussain Chattha, Zahid Sarfraz, Mahnaz Rafi, Dr Rafiq Ahmad and Shahid Rashid.