LAHORE, Nov 8: Both the major opposition alliances, the ARD and the MMA, hold the government responsible for the killing of 35 troops in the Malakand area on Wednesday and 82 people in a seminary in Bajaur a few days ago.

ARD Chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim, secretary-general Iqbal Zafar Jhagra and MMA president Qazi Husain Ahmed said the government should immediately step down or face a movement.

Mr Fahim said change of policy was imperative to deal with the troubled tribal regions but it was not possible for the present rulers to do that. As a consequence, he said, the nation would continue to hear such tragic news after intervals.

He said talks should be held with the people of the area who in his opinion were all patriots. But if the government killed innocent people, it would have to face a backlash.

If the government suspected that some subversive elements were hiding somewhere, it should cordon off the area and try to capture them. Militants or weapons in their possession could easily be recovered through such a methodology, the ARD chairman argued.

Reckless killings, he said, would not help resolve the issue.

He said if the government received any information about some illegal activity in some area, it should check its veracity before going for a military action.

Mr Fahim said a representative government could handle the situation without causing any deaths.

Mr Jhagra said the Wednesday tragedy was the direct result of the killings in Bajaur Agency a few days ago, and it was regrettable that troops were targeted because of the wrong policies of the top military leadership.

He appealed to all opposition parties to call meetings of their relevant bodies to discuss the situation and launch a movement to dislodge the present rulers. In case they didn’t, consequences could be disastrous for the country’s unity, Mr Jhagra warned.

He said the country was fast heading towards anarchy and a civil war. He said the country could no longer afford to work under foreign dictation.

Qazi Husain Ahmed said the wrong policies of Gen Musharraf were leading to deaths of army men as civilians. He said the situation would not normalize unless Gen Musharraf stepped down.

Qazi, who is amir of the Jamaat-i-Islami, said his party was determined to launch a movement to oust Gen Musharraf.