LAHORE, Feb 1: ARD president Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan has accused the government of deviating from its past practice by not announcing a complete strike on Feb 5 for expressing solidarity with Kashmiri freedom fighters.
Speaking at a news conference here on Friday, he announced a 15-member steering committee of the All Parties Conference earlier held in the city in December last year.
By observing a complete strike across the country, Pakistan had been giving a clear message to the world that the nation was united on the issue and was fully supporting the Kashmiris struggling to get their right to self-determination. But, this year the government had taken no step in this regard, he regretted. He appealed to the nation to organize peaceful meetings, seminars and rallies to show solidarity with Kashmiri brethren.
Commenting on Pir Pagara’s statement of replacing 1973 Constitution, he said change in the thinking of a person like the Pir was very painful for him as he (Pir Pagara) had always been a proclaimer of national thinking. During dictatorships not only parties but also alliances were formed some of which talked of re-interpretation of the 1940 Resolution while some others demanded making the country a confederation.
He said attempts to rewrite the constitution would endanger the very country’s future as constitutions were written in an atmosphere of compromise and adjustments which were non-existent here in the current situation.
Taking an exception to amendments to the constitution and electoral reforms, the Nawabzada said no amendment to the constitution could be made in violation of the procedure given in the constitution itself. He reminded the people that even Bar councils had opposed the Supreme Court verdict of authorizing the government to amend the statute on the basis that even the SC itself was not authorized to amend it, how it could designate any other body to effect the changes.
He said through electoral reforms, a backdoor had been opened to the people who could not win the general elections. About reserving 60 seats for women, he said no such precedent could be found even in the biggest and the oldest democracies of the world (India and Britain, respectively).
He also criticized the educational qualification set for the MPs, terming the condition a no-confidence in the observation of voters and a violation of political parties’ right to nominate candidates at their own will. The Nawabzada also demanded the government to allow political activities so that parties could present their manifestos before voters.
He regretted that the National Reconstruction Bureau had so far failed to clear the confusion created by its devolution plan despite amending it 30 times even after elections to district Nazims.
Later, the Nawabzada gave a list of 15 members nominated to the steering committee of the APC. They are: Raja Zafarul Haq (PML-N), Qazi Husain Ahmad (Jamaat-i-Islami), Maulana Fazlur Rahman (JUI-F), Hamid Nasir Chattha (PML-C), Nawab Akbar Bugti (Jamhoori Watan Party), Maulana Samiul Haq (JUI-S), Mian Manzoor Wattoo (PML-Jinnah), Aslam Beg (Awami Qiadat Party), Hadeem Gul (Tehrik-i-Ittehad), Afaq Ahmad (MQM-H), Prof Sajid Meer (Markaz-i-Jamiat Ahle Hadith), Mohim Khan Baloch (Balochistan National Party), Syed Nobihar Shah (Shia Political Party), Syed Manzoor Gilani (Istiqlal Party) and Dr Abdul Hayee Baloch (Balochistan National Movement).