QUETTA, Sept 10: Leaders of the opposition parties have demanded end to military operation in Balochistan and said there would be no political stability in the country until the army abandoned its role in national politics.

Speaking at a public meeting in Dera Murad Jamali on Sunday, leaders of the People’s Party Parliamentarians, Balochistan National Party, National Party, Awami National Party, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Awami Tehrik Sindh, Jamhoori Watan Party, Pakistan People’s Party (Shaheed Bhutto) and Communist Party of Pakistan lauded the struggle of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. They said the late leader had sacrificed his life bravely but refused to surrender before the military dictator.

The speakers condemned the killing of Nawab Bugti and the government’s refusal to hand over his body to his heirs, intensification of the military operation in Kohlu and denial of rights to smaller provinces. They blamed military dictatorship for the political crisis in the country.

Paying tribute to Nawab Bugti for sacrificing his life to protect the rights of Balochistan’s people they said the nationalist and democratic parties had joined hands against the anti-people rulers to restore true democratic rule.

They held the military establishment responsible for the political instability in the country and turmoil in Balochistan.

They said perpetual army rule was the root cause of disharmony between the smaller provinces and Punjab.

They asserted that neither President Pervez Musharraf nor the PML was sincere in resolving the Balochistan issue politically.

They said the silence of the ruling party over the killing of Nawab Bugti and the military operation testified that the PML was backing the excesses in the province.

They said unwise policies of military rulers against the sentiments of the people had caused crisis after crisis in the country. They said people had lost trust in the political and democratic system as a result of such policies.

They declared that the dispute between the army rulers and the political leadership was over governance of the state. The military rulers wanted parliament to be subservient to the General Headquarters, they said.

They said the opposition parties had formed an alliance to launch a decisive movement against the Musharraf government and the democratic forces would succeed in restoring constitutional rule.

They demanded end to the military operation in Balochistan, exhumation of Nawab Bugti’s body by an international medical board as sought by his sons, release of all political workers, maximum provincial autonomy, provinces’ control over their resources and end to the army’s political role.

Mir Sadiq Umrani and Bismillah Kakar of the PPP, Sardar Akhtar Mengal of the BNP-M, Mir Hasil Bizenjo of the NP, Nizamuddin Kakar of the ANP, Farooq Ahmed of the PML-N, Zarina Baloch of the Awami Tehrik, Rafiq Khoso of the JWP, Ali Dost Umrani of the PPP-SB and Abdul Khaliq Baloch of the CPP spoke at the meeting held by the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy, Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement and the ANP.