March, 11 2005	Friday	29 Muharram 1426

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SUKKUR, March 10: The leader of opposition in Senate, Mr Raza Rabbani, has called for maximum provincial autonomy to Balochistan to end the sense of deprivation among people of the province.

He was speaking at a press conference at the residence of fomer senator and Sindh High Court Bar Association’s Sukkur chapter president Imdad Ali Awan.

Mr Rabbani, who visited Jacobabad and Sukkur jails on Thursday as a member of the senate’s standing committee on jails, observed that resignation of some Balochistan legislators from the parliamentary committee on Balochistan showed that they had no trust in the ruling Pakistan Muslim League’s policy regarding the province.

He called for a political solution to the issue and said any operation in Balochistan would harm the country’s integrity. He said the People’s Party Parliamentarians would oppose such an operation.

He also criticized President Gen Musharraf’s statements on the Kalabagh dam. He said provincial assemblies of Sindh and the NWFP had passed resolutions against the project but the rulers were continuing with the plan to construct the dam.

The senator said his party wanted reservations of the smaller provinces on the dam and other contentious projects addressed before undertaking the projects.

He said construction of the Kalabagh dam without consensus would cause hatred of the smaller provinces against the federation.

Referring to the Baghliar dam construction by India, he regretted that the government had remained silent on the issue for five years but now when 90 per cent work on the projects had been completed, the government approached the World Bank for resolving the matter.

He also referred to raising of dykes on the Ravi river in the Indian part, which he said violated the Indus Water Treaty.

The PPP leader the government should give autonomy to Balochistan and other provinces as ensured in the Constitution.

He said the parliamentary committee’s 27 recommendations were not sufficient to resolve the Balochistan issue.

Senator Rabbani also spoke about the pathetic conditions of jails and the plight of prisoners.

He said the senate’s standing committee on jails was working to bring about required changes in jails.

He said committee members had already inspected jails of Balochistan, Punjab and the NWFP and were now visiting jails of Sindh. He said they had found that most of the jails were overcrowded.

Mr Rabbani said the problems of women’s and juveniles’ jails were even more worse because the number of inmates in these jails was three times more than their capacity.

He said the standing committee would prepare its report by mid April after which it would be debated in the senate and then sent to provincial governments for consideration and implementation.

He said committee, headed by Senator S. M. Zafar, had taken a serious notice of abuses and neglect of human rights in jails.

Answering a question, the PPP leader opposed issuing National Identity Cards to illegal immigrants of Bangladesh, Burma and Afghanistan.

He observed that the government was bound to implement resolutions of provincial assemblies on various national issues.

When asked about the reported PPP-government deal, he said his party would not compromise on issues of the supremacy of parliament, 1973 Constitution, dual offices of the president and the 17th constitutional amendment. He said talks with the government were being held on these issues. He said the PPP had also demanded holding the general election in 2005 and allowing Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif to return to the country.

He said Makhdoom Amin Fahim and Raja Zafrul Haq were also holding talks with the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal on behalf of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy. He said the agenda was restoration of the 1973 Constitution and annulment of the 17th constitutional amendment.

Sindh PPP president Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Khairpur District Nazim Nafisa Shah was also present on the occasion.