April 22, 2006	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 23, 1427

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QUETTA, April 21: Leaders of several political parties and nationalist groups have adopted a resolution calling for an immediate end to the military operation in Balochistan and complete restoration of the 1973 Constitution.

The resolution, adopted at the conclusion of a Pakistan People’s Party-sponsored seminar on provincial autonomy and the 1973 Constitution, also demanded establishment of an independent election commission under which free, fair and transparent elections should be held.

The leaders of various political parties, including Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Senator Babar Awan, Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq, Farzana Raja, Senator Latif Khosa of the PPP, Haji Lashkri Raisani, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, Dr Hayee Baloch, Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal, Arbab Zahir Kasi, Khuda-i-Noor, Amanullah Kanrani and Justice (Retd) Tariq Mehmood, spoke at the seminar.

PPP’s central leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the present regime was keeping the people ignorant of all actions being taken in Balochistan and thus the rulers were pushing the country towards further disintegration.

Mr Qureshi criticised the ongoing operation in Balochistan and said it was the outcome of a prevailing mindset of the establishment.

He invited all political and nationalist leaders of Balochistan to visit Punjab and inform the people of the province about the atrocities being committed in Balochistan. He announced his full support to the Baloch people in their struggle for rights.

The PPP leader said that only political dialogue and sustainable democratic system could assure the democratic, political and financial rights to all the four federating units. He while referring the 1973 Constitution said that the country couldn’t afford a new constitution at this juncture. He said that 73 constitution was a blessing and it could be amended and improved according to the satisfaction of the people of all the four provinces.

Senator Babar Awan, deputy secretary general of the PPP, dispelled the impression that Punjab was a stumbling block in the path to democratic rights and provincial autonomy. “Punjab is not opposed to the rights of smaller provinces. It is the establishment that has always created hurdles in this process and deprived the provinces of their rights,” he said.

He observed that all military dictators did not belong to Punjab and said it was a “smaller group of the ruling elite” that had “usurped all political and financial rights of the people of all the four provinces”. He said that the common man in Punjab was also facing the same problems and difficulties as the rest of the population of Sindh, Balochistan and NWFP.

“Only a system based on equality and justice can guarantee the common man his rights,” the senator said.

Balochistan National Party president Sardar Akhtar Mengal said that due to the wrong policies of the rulers the country had reached a point where no constitution could guarantee the rights of oppressed peoples. He proposed that a new constituent assembly be formed and a new constitution be drawn up and approved to provide equal rights to all federating units.

He said that whenever Baloch people demanded their rights an army operation was launched in the province. He said the people of Balochistan were facing their fifth military operation since 1947.

Dr Hayee Baloch, president of the National Party, criticised the military operation in Balochistan and said that the rulers could not force the Baloch people to surrender their legitimate rights.

“We are not ready to give up our political and constitutional rights,” he said and added that the struggle launched in Balochistan would play a key role in ousting the present regime at some point.

PPP leader Farzana Raja said that leaders of other parties were ready to show complete solidarity with the people and political leadership of Balochistan in their time of tribulation. “We will not leave them in the lurch,” she said and added that the popular leadership of the country should be allowed to return to Pakistan and play their role in resolving the problems being faced by the country.