QUETTA, May 26: Leaders of the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement said on Tuesday that military rulers' insistence on army's political role was the root cause of the constitutional
and democratic crisis that had created disharmony between people of the dominant province and Baloch, Pukhtuns and Sindhis.
Speaking to Balochistan Bar Association members, Ponam leaders Sardar Ataullah Mengal and Mahmood Khan Achakzai said the country's foreign and domestic policies should reflect the aspirations of the people of all the provinces.
BBA President Mohsin Javed presided over the meeting. Ataullah Mengal said Ponam was struggling for the constitutional, political and democratic rights of the deprived provinces.
He warned that continuous denial of national rights to oppressed nationalities by military rules would worsen the situation. He held the military establishment responsible for the failure of constitutional and democratic order.
He said unwise army generals ruling the people against their consent had forced the deprived nationalities to demand the framing of a constitution under a fresh social contract.
He asserted that the Baloch were not totally satisfied when the Constitution of 1973 was framed but they extended cooperation with the hope that army generals after the fall of Dhaka would had learnt the lesson that people could not be suppressed by use of force.
He said amendments by former president Ziaul Haq and the 17th Amendment to the constitution had distorted the document that was accepted with a consensus. He said the number of amendments was higher than the original articles in the constitution.
He said politicians of oppressed provinces were being pressured to bow before the military oligarchy so that the usurpers could govern the Baloch, Pukhtuns, Sindhis and Seraikis with a free hand.
He vowed no to compromise with the oppressors and allow military dictators to subdue the struggle of the oppressed nationalities. Attaullah Mengal lauded the bar's struggle for democracy and said the bench had often backed unconstitutional rulers 'through the law of necessity'.
Regarding the demand for Pukhtun province over the area from Chitral to Bolan, he said the land issue between Baloch and Pukhtuns would be amicably resolved once they got authority.
He said both the nationalities were determined to struggle jointly and frustrate the evil designs of the intelligence agencies that wanted to divide them. MNA Mahmood Achakzai of the Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party claimed that Ponam was established to rid the country of the rule of army and intelligence agencies.
He said the military rulers were insisting that parliament should be subservient to the General Headquarters but the Baloch, Pukhtuns, Sindhis and Seraikis would not accept such a situation.
He said army and intelligence agencies had hatched conspiracies to topple democratic governments that caused constitutional crises and weakened democratic institutions.
He asserted that to take the country out of the impasse the political leadership of Punjabis, Pukhtuns, Baloch, Sindhis and Seraikis had to frame a constitution under a fresh social contract that guaranteed that the army's only contribution would be to defend national frontiers.
Mahmood Achakzai said no one could deny the fact that the civil and military bureaucracy of Punjab had decided to involve army in politics so that the dominant province could exploit the resources of the oppressed nationalities.
He said that in democracy all institutions, including parliament, judiciary, army and bureaucracy were assigned roles in given spheres but military generals were reluctant to accept it. He said there would be no crisis if the principle was strictly followed.
Replying to a question about his supporting to the US-backed government in Kabul, he said the United Nations Security Council had authorized America to play a role in Afghanistan but he denounced the invasion of Iraq.
He said the authorities were aware of foreign terrorists whereabouts and the dual policy being implemented in the tribal areas to misguide the US would endanger the country's integrity.
