LAHORE, July 14: PPP-SB Chairperson Ghinwa Bhutto demanded on Wednesday that the government should direct its Washington ambassador, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, not to accept the status of UN envoy to the occupied Iraq.
At a news conference here, she said the government should keep in mind the ongoing situation in Iraq and ask Mr Qazi not to accept the new assignment which was full of hazards. "Who will be responsible if something happens to Mr Qazi (while representing the world body in Iraq)," she said.
She said the ambassador would be putting himself in a very dangerous condition by accepting the new responsibility. Dr Mubashir Hasan and Farrukh Sohail Gowindi were also present at the news conference.
Ms Ghinwa was of the view that Pakistan should not send its troops to Iraq as long as US troops occupied the country. She said Iraqi people were putting up resistance to occupiers, and Pakistani troops would also come under attacks by resistance forces. This, she said, would embitter relations between the peoples of Iraq and Pakistan.
She said if the US forces, equipped with sophisticated weaponry, were unable to protect the UN personnel, Pakistani troops could not be expected to perform any better. She reminded the relevant quarters that even the UN troops in Iraq would have to work under the US command. She said Pakistani troops would be treated by Iraqi resistance like enemies even if they were part of UN forces.
Meanwhile, the PPP-SB Central Committee reviewed the political situation in the country and Pakistan-India relations with special reference to the Kashmir issue. It also deliberated on water shortage, unemployment, growing poverty and the deteriorating law and order situation.
It noted with satisfaction the progress made by the governments of Pakistan and India in pursuing the objective of settling their disputes and improving the relations between them.
The committee believed that the cause of improving relations and finding a solution to the Kashmir issue would be greatly served if the two foreign ministers announced at their next meeting that their governments were dedicated to facilitating the movement of people across the Line of Control.
The two sides, it said, should also consider allowing the people to move freely and trade across the LoC. A resolution said: "The party witnesses with great disquiet the fast deteriorating law and order situation in the country.
Murders, dacoities, targeted killings of political and religious leaders, members of parliament and assemblies, police officers; attacks on corps commanders and military and paramilitary officers, cantonments, police stations, gas pipelines, electrical transmission towers, mosques and Imambargahs and the confrontation in the tribal areas pose the most serious threat to peace and security of the country.
The maintenance of law and order being the foremost duty, the government has failed to discharge its basic duty. The social contract between the people and the state stands snapped.
People have lost confidence in the government, and are taking the law in their own hands. The situation calls for reappraisal of the mode of government and the ability of those who are at the helm of affairs."
The party expressed concern over the dismissal of Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali as prime minister without any charges and without consultation with the parliament. The party saw no justification for Jamali to be made a scapegoat.
Another resolution said the water shortages posed a threat to the political and economic situation. The government had failed to distribute the shortages fairly and justly between the provinces.
It had also failed to take measures to augment the supplies. The government had taken no steps to inform the people and explain its policy of how to deal with the shortages. The committee considered at length the twin crises of poverty and unemployment and held the government responsible for them.
A resolution on the subject said lack of investment in industry and infrastructure was the major cause of growing unemployment. "Bad law and order situation and the uncertainty about the future of the government is a great disincentive for the investors."
Another resolution lamented the slow pace of prosecution of the murder case of Mir Murtaza Bhutto. "Eight years have passed. The accused policemen have been made inspector and deputy inspector-generals and superintendent of police. Very few witnesses have been examined. The order of the high court that the case should be heard on a daily basis is not being followed for reasons best known to the judiciary."
