|
|
|
| December 3, 2005 | Saturday | Shawwal 30, 1426 |
PMAP chief calls for end to army’s role in politics
QUETTA, Dec 2: Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai said on Friday that democracy would flourish in the country only when the military ended its interference in political affairs and recognized the right of provinces to exercise control over their resources.
Speaking at a meeting held on Friday to mark the 32nd death anniversary of the party’s founder, Khan Abdul Samad Khan Shaheed, Mr Achakzai said that if President Pervez Musharraf was sincere about making Pakistan a democratic state he should end the army’s role in politics.
“Democracy can flourish in the country and political stability will be there only if the military decides not to interfere in political matters and recognizes the right of provinces over their resources,” Mr Achakzai said.
The meeting passed resolutions rejecting the Kalabagh dam and opposing the merger of levies with police. Other resolutions criticized the denial of rights of provinces over their resources and unlawful arrests of political workers.
Mr Achakzai said only those political parties which enjoyed public support had a right to govern the country. He said his party would never accept military dictatorship.
The PMAP leader accused anti-Pukhtun elements of sabotaging the union of the NWFP, tribal areas and Pakhtun areas of Balochistan and Punjab into the united province of Pukhtunkhwa.
Paying tribute to the late Samad Khan and other Pukhtun nationalist leaders who had made great sacrifices in the freedom movement against the British rule, Mr Achakzai said that the rulers had been denied the fruits of freedom.
Mr Samad Khan was assassinated on Dec 2, 1973, when unidentified men hurled bombs into his house. He had spent a major part of his life in prison during the British rule.
Mr Achakzai lashed out at the “so-called mullahs” for deceiving the Pukhtuns and promising them paradise if they voted for religious parties. He said a Muslim could enter paradise only by sacrificing his life for a cause.
PMAP’s deputy chairman Abdur Rahim Mandokhel said that all nationalities had equal rights since Pakistan was a multi-national state comprising Pukhtuns, Baloch, Sindhis, Seraikis and Punjabis.
DEMO: Dozens of nazims and councillors took out a procession on Friday against the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) for inadequate supply of gas. They marched towards the governor house to hand over a memorandum.
Two nazims, Mir Aslam Rind and Haji Sadiquddin, were allowed by the security staff to hand over the memorandum to the military secretary of the governor.
The protesters had earlier decided to stage a sit-in in front of the main offices of the SSGC but they were persuaded by officials of the governor house to meet the general manager of the company and try to resolve the issue.
The nazims met the general manager, Mohammad Nawaz Shiekh, and apprised him of problems caused by the inadequate supply of gas in the city. They were assured that major areas of the city would get the normal supply of gas by Dec 9.
ARMYMEN: Five army personnel were seriously injured when their truck overturned on the Quetta Karachi Highway, near the Marjan area of Kalat, some 160 km from here, on Friday.
Police sources said that the truck of an army convoy coming to Quetta overturned and fell into a ditch when its driver lost control of the vehicle.
The injured were rushed to the Civil Hospital in Kalat and later shifted to the CMH in Quetta.
|
|
|
|
