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| March 16, 2006 | Thursday | Safar 15, 1427 |
Opposition urges debate on Balochistan crisis
QUETTA, March 15: Opposition legislators havecalled for a debate on the operation in Dera Bugti and Kohlu in the provincial assembly and said they would stage a march to protest against frequent adjournments of session since Dec 17.
Speaking at a press conference in the chamber of the leader of the opposition on Wednesday, they alleged that the adjournments were aimed at toppling the coalition government to pave way for governor rule in Balochistan.
The press conference was addressed by Kachkol Ali of the National Party, Abdur Rahim Ziaratwal of the Pakthunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Mir Saleem Khoso of the Jamhoori Watan Party, Mir Akbar Mengal of the Balochistan National Party and Shafique Ahmed Khan of the PPP Parliamentarians.
Opposition members said that people had elected them to discuss public issues in the assembly but the governor adjourned the assembly session for the fifth time to discourage any debate on government excesses.
Referring to the ongoing operation, they said that the province was passing through a serious crisis, adding that denial of political and constitutional rights and extra-constitutional arrests of political workers was worsening the situation.
They called upon the government to withdraw the decision of merging levies force in police and said that the positive role of levies in ‘B’ area should be kept in mind before comparing it with the performance of police in settled areas.
The opposition members condemned the police raid on the residence of Javed Mengal in Karachi to arrest Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri and 20 others and stated that such acts would not deter the nationalists in their fight for national rights.
They termed it ironic that while President Pervez Musharraf had publicly apologized for excesses committed during the four military operations in Balochistan, he was using the state apparatus against innocent people.
They called for a halt to atrocities and immediate release of all political detainees and expressed concern over the deterioration in law and order situation in the province.
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