London – 27th December 2005 Using the country’s army against its own citizens is detrimental for the national unity. Already national unity is scarce because of the prejudicial decisions taken by Islamabad in the past against the smaller provinces and the aspirations of its people. They were deprived of legitimate rights and state force was used to deal with the uncertainty and insecurity thus paying no attention to their reservations. This was stated by the MQM Founder & Leader Mr Altaf Hussain in his statement issued today.
Mr Hussain said that twice the President General Pervez Musharraf has escaped attempts on his life through powerful bomb explosions in the Cantonment area of Rawalpindi. Similarly, the Prime Minster Shoukat Aziz survived an assassination attempt at Attock in Punjab. By the grace of Allah Almighty they escaped these assassination attempts unharmed. However, no army operation was launched either in Rawalpindi or Attock nor the adjoining areas were held responsible for these attempts and all the efforts were centred towards apprehending those responsible, which was the right line of action. During the Balochistan visit of President Musharraf a few days ago, a rocket was fired, which is deplorable but it is sad that an army operation has been launched against the people of Balochistan. It has also come to notice that gunship helicopters are being used in this army operation targeting innocent children, elders and women, which is highly deplorable.
Mr Hussain said that Balochistan is part of Pakistan and not a foreign land. According to area, Balochistan is the largest province of the country. Efforts should have been made to address the uncertainty and insecurity of the people of Balochistan and to resolve all the issues through dialogue but sadly enough once again brute force is being used. Mr Hussain said that he fails to understand why, at such a time when the country is in the process of recovering from the devastations of the recent earthquake of 8th October 2005 and efforts are in progress for the rehabilitation of the victims; on the one hand the issue of Kalabagh Dam has been raised to further aggravate the sense of deprivation of Sindh Province and on the other hand the process of dialogue has been suspended and an army operation launched in Balochistan. Mr Hussain said that the situation at our borders and the international scenario demands to stop the use of State force to suppress the voice and aspirations of the people for country’s survival. Mr Hussain demanded of the President Musharraf and Prime Minister Shoukat Aziz to stop the army operation in Balochistan forthwith and adopt the peaceful path of negotiations and dialogue to alleviate the grievances of the people of Balochistan.