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| May 21, 2006 | Sunday | Rabi-us-Sani 22, 1427 |
Mumtaz Bhutto wants govt check on MQM
LAHORE, May 20: Sindh National Front chairman and former chief minister Mumtaz Bhutto alleges that the MQM does politics of violence of which the government should take due notice.
Speaking at a press conference along with JUI-Q chief Ajmal Qadri here on Saturday, he blasted the Nishter Park tragedy and said the government had failed to ensure protection of life and property of the citizens.
He said he was at a loss to understand why the government was supporting the MQM, which “just believed in the politics of violence.” He demanded that the government should answer the masses “under what conditions it was backing the MQM.”
The government, he said, should take notice of the MQM activities instead of giving it a free hand.
Talking about the Balochistan issue, Mr Bhutto said it should be resolved through dialogue instead of using military force.
The people of Sindh had observed a strike to express their solidarity with the people of Balochistan but the rulers were continuing the military operation, he regretted.
He said those, who claimed that they would make the country a heaven, should first visit Balochistan to realise what sort of heaven the people of this province are living in. “The territory is giving the look of hell.”
He said the military regimes had always caused great losses to the country and the incumbent set-up is no exception.
The Sindhi leader described the Kalabagh dam construction plan as a conspiracy to render his province a desert area and “this policy cannot be good for national interests.” He said the Indus did not have sufficient water to fill the KBD.
Responding to a question regarding the Charter of Democracy recently signed by two former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, he said this was all joke. The masses had seen the true picture of the leadership sitting abroad, he added.
The SNF chief said the charter was not a solution to the problems facing the country. “Price hike, lawlessness and unavailability of basic facilities are the real issues.”
Expressing his reservations over chances of free elections in the presence of Musharraf as the president and the army chief, he said the present assemblies had no mandate to elect Gen Musharraf as president for the third time. Musharraf, he said, should stop playing with the future of the country and using the constitution according to his wishes.
When asked about his induction in the interim set-up, he said he had served the province for three months and during that era he did his best to improve the law and order situation.
“If again I am asked to serve the people, I’ll definitely look into it in the best interest of the people of Sindh,” he said. —Staff Reporter
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