August 31, 2007	Friday	Sha’aban 17, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Aug 30: Member of the British Parliament Lord Nazir Ahmad on Thursday warned that the people of Mirpur would launch a civil disobedience movement if the Pakistan government failed to provide compensation to thousands of persons affected by the Mangla Dam, by Sept 3, 2007.

He gave this warning while speaking at a meet-the-press programme at the Melody Press Club here. He said he had raised the issue of compensation with Pakistan and urged that the promises made to the people affected by the Mangla Dam upraising be fulfilled, but all in vain.

“I even raised the issue with Prime minister Shaukat Aziz when he was on a visit to Britain and he told me that compensations had (already) been paid,” the Lord Ahmad noted. He regretted that the prime minister was either not aware of the facts or he simply “lied.”

Now there is no option left for the people of Mirpur except resorting to such extreme steps, he regretted. Lord Ahmad also accused the Kashmir government of Sardar Attiq of ignoring the rights of the people of Mirpur in connivance with Pakistani rulers, specially those affected by the raising of the Mangla Dam.

He accused Sardar Attiq of diverting all revenues collected from Mirpur to Dirkot.

To a question, Lord Nazir responded the Sardar’s family had been ruling Kashmir on the slogan of “Accession to Pakistan,” adding that they had little interest in serving the people of Kashmir. Their priority was to keep the Pakistani generals and rulers happy and said the elections in Kashmir had been engineered.

He also strongly opposed what he called Gen Musharraf’s U-turn on Kashmir, which equated the liberation struggle in Kashmir as terrorism and the exclusion of Kashmiris from the composite dialogue. In his view, the Kashmir policy being pursued was neither in Pakistan’s interest nor would it benefit the Kashmiris but being pursued under pressure from the United States.

Similarly, he condemned the May 12 Karachi carnage, army operations in Waziristan and lauded lawyers and the media for their role in fighting for rule of law and independence of the judiciary.

He also talked about the disappearances of citizens and nationalists, saying he had raised the issue in the House of Lords as well.

Replying a question, he advised Gen Musharraf to doff his uniform and urged that Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto be allowed to return.