Opposition calls for end to Balochistan crackdown

[sonz]

ISLAMABAD, DAWN: Opposition parties in the Senate on Monday called for an immediate end to the crackdown in Balochistan and the start of a dialogue with Baloch leaders on the second day of an uproarious debate on the troubled province.

With a few exceptions from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, most speakers of the day, which was marked by heated exchanges, blamed a perceived long-standing sense of deprivation in Balochistan for the present law and order situation.

Several senators drew comparisons between the present use of force in Balochistan and the events in former East Pakistan that led to the 1971 secession and accused the government of failing to learn a lesson from history.

The debate, which began on the opening day of the present Senate session on Friday, remained inconclusive and will resume on Tuesday when the house will meet at 3:30pm.

There was a pandemonium when PML’s chief whip Kamil Ali Agha and Sanaullah Baloch of the Balochistan National Party (Mengal) exchanged hot and some abusive words, provoking shouting and protests from both sides.

The situation calmed down after opposition leader Raza Rabbani offered regrets from his side and PML Senator Mohammad Akram, who was presiding over the house after chairman Mohammedmian Soomro left the chamber, expunged objectionable remarks from both sides from the record of the proceedings.

Mohammad Aslam Buledi of the Balochistan National Movement accused security agencies of resorting to carpet bombing by air force jets and using gunship helicopters and poison gas in the present operations in the Kohlu district and warned the government that it would be responsible for the consequences.

Dr Safdar Abbasi of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) accused President Pervez Musharraf of creating inter-provincial disharmony contrary to his pledge to promote the same and plunging the country into such a dangerous situation the likes of which the country had not seen under any ruler after former president Gen Yahya Khan.

But PML Senators Ayaz Khan Mandokhel and Ms Pari Gul Agha praised the policies of President Musharraf, crediting him with what they called unprecedented development work in Balochistan and defended the crackdown launched after some elements fired rockets at Kohlu when the president was on a visit there on Dec 14 and hit a helicopter with machinegun fire the next day wounding the inspector-general of the Frontier Corps and his deputy.

Prof Ghafoor Ahmed of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal called for an end to the use of force, engaging Baloch leaders in a “meaningful dialogue” and allowing genuine provincial autonomy to Balochistan.

Mohammad Abbas Komaili of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, a ruling coalition partner, said the present operation in Balochistan should be ended, violence should stop from both sides and dialogue should be held with “genuine leadership” in the province.

PML-N’s parliamentary leader Ishaq Dar said the use of force would not succeed, adding it had failed in the former East Pakistan and called for the implementation of the report of a parliamentary committee on Balochistan and announcement of the National Finance Commission award to improve the situation.

The house witnessed the first furore of the day immediately after the question hour when Kamil Ali Agha accused the opposition of failing to condemn the reported attack on the offices of the daily Khabron in Sukkur after the newspaper printed a government advertisement in favour of the Kalabagh Dam and alleged threats to journalists.

PPP’s Safdar Abbasi said it was the responsibility of the PML-led Sindh government to protect journalists and newspapers but protested against the Information and Broadcasting Ministry putting in ads at the cost of the national exchequer in support of a policy that he said was not of the government but only of Gen Musharraf.

Mr Agha was again involved in an exchange of hot words with Dr Abdullah Riaz over a report of the house standing committee on health.

Chairman Soomro deferred the matter and called a meeting of the committee chairperson, Mr Agha and Dr Riaz in his chamber to settle their differences.