SUKKUR, Jan 2: Leaders of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy have reiterated their commitment to end the role of armed forces in politics which, they said, had been harming the country since its inception.
Speaking at a public meeting here on Sunday, they said three rivers of the country was handed over to India occurred during the army rule in 1958, the 1969 martial law resulted in dismemberment of the country and the heroin and Kalashnikov culture was introduced by Gen Zia-ul-Haq's regime.
They said that history would reveal the losses the country had been suffering, and would suffer, during the rule of President Gen Pervez Musharraf. ARD Chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim said army's role was clearly defined in the Constitution, which was to protect the country's borders.
He said that genuine national leadership of the country should be allowed to return to the country. The ARD movement, he added, would continue till the restoration of true democracy.
Mr Fahim further said the ARD would not accept Gen Musharraf as president even if he left the army. He termed the 17th Amendment unconstitutional. The ARD chief said despite the government's claim of about $12 billion foreign exchange reserves, people were facing starvation due to price-hike.
Opposing the construction of Kalabagh dam, he said it would mainly irrigate the lands of army generals. Only those dams should be built where there was a consensus among the four provinces.
ARD Secretary General Iqbal Zafar Jhagra said the struggle was aimed at revival of the 1973 Constitution. Welcoming the participation of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal leaders, Hafiz Hussain Ahmad, MNA Asadullah Bhutto and Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro, in the ARD public meeting, he said the MMA supported the ARD stand on the 17th Amendment.
He said the combined opposition's struggle would continue till the end of Gen Musharraf's rule. The National Security Council, he said, was a contravention of the constitution and undermined the supremacy of parliament.
He regretted that the state institutions had been made subservient to Gen Musharraf. Mr Jhagra said that after coming into power the ARD would do away with the supra-constitutional NSC.
MNA Tehmina Daultana said that Gen Musharraf's wrong policies had brought disrepute for the armed forces. The top brass of the army, she alleged, was engaged in minting money and acquiring plots, instead of performing its duty.
She said the president was afraid of the genuine leadership because after their return he would find no place for himself. The leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly, Mr Nisar Khuhro, said people would not allow construction of any controversial dam.
MMA leader Asadullah Bhutto alleged the president was using state resources for strengthening his rule. He said the MMA and the ARD would jointly struggle for the repeal of the 17th Amendment and to bring an end to army's role in politics.
BRIEFING: Heads of the component parties of the ARD met here on Sunday under the chairmanship of People's Party Parliamentarians leader Mr Fahim. The meeting passed several resolutions on economic, political and external issues faced by the country.
The Pakistan Muslim League-N was represented by Mr Jhagra and Ms Daultana and the PPP by Mr Fahim, Sindh PPP President Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Mr Khuhro. At a briefing to newsmen after the four-hour session, Mr Jhagra said the ARD parties had once again reaffirmed their commitment to restoring the 1973 Constitution.
He said the 2002 elections had failed to make any meaningful impact as leaders of the two main parties, Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, were not allowed to come home. The ARD meeting, he added, was opposed to the construction of big dams without the consent of all the provinces.
He said the ARD meeting had once again rejected the 17th Amendment and added that the MMA leadership had also assured its support for the alliance's struggle. He said the next meeting of the heads of the ARD parties would be held on Jan 11 to be followed by a public meeting on Jan 14 in Sargodha.
The ARD and the MMA, he said, would evolve a code of conduct for a joint future struggle. He said the ARD was ready to accommodate the MMA and other non-ARD parties in the future, but first there would have to be a code of conduct. He hoped both the MMA and the ARD would work out the code of conduct during the next few days, which would be reviewed by the chiefs of the ARD parties on Jan 11.
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