ISLAMABAD, Feb 24: The leaders of nationalist parties have rejected the local government system introduced by the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) and said the country needs a new constitution in order to remove sense of deprivation among the people of smaller provinces.
The nationalist parties leaders were speaking at a seminar on "Greater provincial autonomy", organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) here on Tuesday. NRB chairman Daniyal Aziz presided over the seminar.
The main speakers at the seminar were Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Asfandyar Wali, Former Balochistan Chief Minister Akhtar Mengal, Seraiki National Party (SNP) president Abdul Majeed Kanju and Sindh Taraqi Party (STP) chairman Dr Qadir Magsi.
Mr Aziz had to face severe criticism not only from the nationalist leaders but from the audience as well. He failed to give satisfactory reply to various questions put before him.
Speaking on the occasion, ANP Senator Asfandyar Wali said when Gen Pervez Musharraf assumed power and presented his seven- point agenda, there was a little hope as it contained the issue of provincial disharmony. However, he said, the devolution plan presented by Lt-Gen (retired) Tanveer Naqvi even snatched a little bit autonomy which the provinces had been enjoying.
He said the devolution should be from federal to provinces and then from provinces to districts. By putting the districts directly under the federal system, the provincial governments have been made post offices and the chief ministers should be called postmasters general, he added.
"If you want to see a strong Pakistan, then you will have to empower provinces." The ANP Senator said he was unable to understand the criticism to the demand of renaming the NWFP.
He said when the names of Layalpur and Lawrancepur could be changed then why the name of a province could not be changed. He said Pukhtoons were not demanding separation, they only wanted representation on the country's map.
"We need a new social contract system for Pakistan", Mr Wali said, adding that the rulers must realize that "perceptions are more dangerous than the facts." He said those who won the last elections in the name of Islam and Holy Quran were crying for autonomy in the province.
He criticized the government for stopping them from organizing a seminar at Parliament Lodges and registering cases against them. He said some of the MNAs and senators were locked inside the hall and allowed to come out after several hours.
Akhtar Mengal regretted that the issue of provincial autonomy had been ignored for the past 56 years. "Had we realized the things at that time, Pakistan would not have been divided."
He said the people of Balochistan had been deceived in the name of Islam several times. Mr Mengal said their ancestors were arrested time and again and dubbed as anti-Islam and anti- Pakistan. Baloch people were included in Pakistan as a nation and they should be treated like a nation, he added.
He said they were put behind bars several times on charges of treason, while those held responsible for the East Pakistan tragedy in the Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report were allowed to roam freely.
He said successive governments from Gen Ayub to Gen Musharraf had added to the miseries of the people of the smaller provinces.
The SNP president, Abdul Majeed Kanju, suggested that provinces should be called national states. He said it was strange for him to speak on provincial autonomy as he did not even have a province.
He was of the view that the federation could only be saved by strengthening the federating units.
Mr Kanju said a new constituent assembly should be elected to prepare a new constitution for the country.
Dr Qadir Magsi said the president and the prime minister were themselves terrorizing the people by saying that the country could be attacked anytime. "Does it happen in any independent and sovereign state," he questioned.
He said when Sindh Assembly passed a resolution, it became a part of Pakistan and when the same assembly was passing resolutions against construction of Thal Canal and Kalabagh Dam, Islamabad was not ready to listen to them. He claimed that the 1973 Constitution did not provide as much autonomy to the provinces as provided by the 1935 Act.
Mr Magsi said provinces were merged to form one-unit system during Gen Ayub era and now the provinces were being dissolved to form the same system. In his concluding remarks, the NRB chairman said it was wrong to say that the country was facing a 1971-like situation.
The government is ready to listen to the people of smaller provinces and will take steps to remove their apprehensions, he added. He said though the nationalist parties did not have the people's mandate as they lost in the last elections, the government was ready to hold consultations with them to bring provincial harmony. He called for finding out a political solution to all the issues.
