April 02, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 24, 1429

KARACHI, April 1: The issue of an independent judiciary is linked with the sovereignty of parliament and without recognising the rights of the “oppressed nationalities”, parliament cannot be considered a sovereign body.

This was stated by the chief of the National Party and former senator, Dr Abdul Hayee Baloch, here on Tuesday.

The Baloch leader said that while the present government had released the detained judges it had totally ignored the issue of detained Baloch leaders and the missing persons of Balochistan who had equally made tremendous sacrifices for the cause of democracy.

The NP chief accused the present rulers of “not adopting a serious approach” towards the Balochistan issue. He criticised the present rulers for advising the Balochs to surrender in order to gain amnesty.

While talking to Dawn, he termed this demand unjust and insulting, saying that it was the same policy which was adopted by the previous government.

He made it clear that no Baloch would surrender instead they would prefer to die like Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti or Balaach Marri.

The Baloch nationalist leader said the Balochistan problem could not be resolved by abolishing the concurrent list. He said that the issue was directly linked to the “sovereign rights of a free people.”

He argued that the gunboat policy adopted by the past military rulers had not only complicated the issue but had also increased the bitterness among the people of Punjab and other provinces.

The NP leader said that had the government been serious about resolving the issue, it would have stopped the military operation and released all Balochs illegally detained. He said that his party still believed that the Balochistan issue should be resolved through parliament not through guns.

The Baloch leader said since the government was the one to impose a war on the Baloch people, it was, therefore, its responsibility to stop it and create a congenial atmosphere to find out a political solution to the Balochistan issue.