ISLAMABAD, Aug 28: The National Assembly saw a bizarre division on Monday in a noisy mourning for Baloch leader Akbar Bugti when the Speaker made a short work of the sitting and the opposition held a ‘session’ to pay tribute to a “martyr”.
It appeared from the opposition anger, marked by slogan- chanting and bitter criticism of the army’s role in the country’s politics, that the veteran politician’s killing will overshadow their no-confidence move against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to be debated by the lower house on Tuesday.
“Qaatil, qaatil, general qaatil”, opposition members chanted repeatedly, holding President General Pervez Musharraf responsible for the death of the veteran politician in a military operation in Balochistan province on Saturday.
The Assembly has a tradition to adjourn for a day without conducting any business to mourn the death of a sitting or former member of the house.
However, the opposition parties had planned to move a resolution as well to condemn what they called the “extra- judicial murder” of Mr Bugti, a former member of the house as well as a former governor and chief minister of Balochistan, and demand an immediate end to the military operation to find political solution to the troubled province’s problems.
Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain did not allow this to happen and instead hurriedly led a brief prayer for Mr Bugti personally amid opposition protests and slogan-chanting and adjourned the house until 10am on Tuesday, when the opposition no-confidence resolution against the prime minister will be taken up.
But the opposition parties stayed back in the house to hold their own session, where their members made speeches for more than an hour and passed the resolution condemning what it called “sad, horrible and worst military action” and hailed the dead politician and tribal chieftain as a martyr.
Many ruling coalition members took time to leave the house and at least six stayed on till the fag-end of the proceedings for which MMA member Liaqat Baloch acted as a “speaker” without taking the Speaker’s chair and conducted the debate while standing on the steps of the dais, flanked by parliamentary group leaders.
The resolution characterised Mr Bugti’s death as an “extra- judicial murder of an important personality of national and provincial politics” and said Gen Musharraf’s statement congratulating the forces on their operation had added fuel to the fire and made the nation worried about the country’s future.
Expressing sympathies and solidarity with the family of “Nawab Akbar Bugti Shaheed (martyr)”, it demanded handover of the Mr Bugti’s body to his relatives, an immediate halt to the military operation in Balochistan, and adoption of the path of dialogue to find a political rather than a military solution of the province’s problems.
Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and PPP chairman Amin Fahim said Mr Bugti was not a rebel but supporter of parliamentary democracy whose Jamhoori Watan Party is an ARD member and called the incident “murder of democracy”.
He described the present situation as the last chance to save Pakistan and said the army had not right to rule and would “have to go back” to barracks.
“Bombs and bullets have been fired not only at Mr Akbar Bugti’s body but also at the chest of Pakistan,” PPP secretary- general Raja Pervez Ashraf said, adding that “the general and Pakistan cannot go together”.
PML-N parliamentary leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said the incident was a blow to national security and unity, and added: “We pledge to our Baloch brothers that whenever they get an FIR of Akbar Bugti’s murder registered, we will be the first witnesses.”
Balochistan National Party (M) member Abdul Rauf Mengal said the Baloch people would hold Gen Musharraf, Prime Minister Aziz and PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain responsible for the murder and would never forgive them.
Pashtunkhawa Milli Awami Party chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai said if Mr Bugti’s killing was a message that “such would be the fate of those who wanted to walk with their heads high” in this country “then we are ready for this”, adding that the role of generals and intelligence agencies in politics had to be ended.
Liaqat Baloch said the opposition parties would launch a united struggle to eliminate military’s role from politics and suggested preparation of FIRs against President Musharraf about the killings of Mr Bugti and other prominent political and religious personalities in consultation with legal experts.
Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf chief Imran Khan accused the president of high treason under article 6 of the constitution.
