KARACHI, Dec 22: Chief of the Awami Qayadat Party and a former army chief Gen (rtd) Mirza Aslam Beg on Thursday said that Kalabagh dam issue should be debated in assemblies in order to arrive at a conclusion and take a final decision. The matter should not be politicized, he added.

Addressing a news conference, he said that dams were necessary for meeting future water needs of the country, but emphasized that Kalabagh dam was a technical matter and should be dealt with in that manner.

He said that the NWFP was objecting to the dam because the project would submerge a vast area of the province, whereas Sindh was opposing it because it feared that a sizable chunk of its land would be turned into desert due to lack of water. It was, therefore, necessary that such matters should be resolved through negotiations, he said.

Gen Beg was of the view that Gen Pervez Musharraf was insisting on this dam because he felt that it would help overcome the future water requirements of the country.

But more importantly, he added, Gen Musharraf was aiming at winning the hearts of the people of Punjab, through getting this project materialized, with the coming elections in his mind.

The AQP chief was of the view that in the next general elections, which might be held in 2007, only that party would emerge victorious which would have US support and would also be subservient to Washington’s wishes while remaining ‘democratic’.

He said that the Pakistan People’s Party had already expressed its willingness to work with the military while the US appeared interested in a ‘cooperative’ government in Islamabad, especially when Washington was faced with difficulties in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Kalabagh dam is important for the US because Washington wants to see a stronger and prosperous Pakistan,” Gen Beg stated.

He said that the military enjoyed a pivotal factor in the US policy and Washington needed the Pakistan army more than ever before because “the armed forces of Pakistan are the only factor of stability from Oxus in the north to Sutlej in the south. As such, Pakistan has assumed new and more pivotal place in the US geo-political economic strategy, and hence the need for domestic stability.”

However, the former army chief cautioned the rulers against going into the lap of the US in the changing world order where Washington was reverting to the policy of containment of China and Russia.

Pakistan, he said, should also not become part of the moves against ‘inherent resistance’ of the Islamic world against forces of oppression.

He said this inherent factor of resistance was a deterrent against the tyranny facing the Muslims world. Once the injustices against them were settled, so would the resistance, he said.

Gen Beg pointed out that India had raised dams and was still constructing water reservoirs in the occupied Kashmir. It was reportedly asking Afghanistan to build another dam on river Kabul. Therefore, he added, Kalabagh dam was necessary to meet the ultimate water deficit.

On Kashmir issue, he said that India had not responded adequately to the flexibility Pakistan had shown on the issue. Since its signing of defence deals with the US, India had become more adamant, he observed.

Regarding the situation in Balochistan, he said that armed force should not be used to resolve the matter. He noted that it was third time that military was being used in Balochistan where people were demanding their rights.

“This is not a mutiny, but a reflection of their grievance. If we failed to resolve the matter through dialogue, enemies may take undue advantage of the situation,” he cautioned.