London -- 3 October 2000
Sardar Ataullah Mengal, Convenor
PONM and President of BNP, Mr Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Chiarman PKMAP and Mr
Altaf Hussain, MQM Founder and Leader, in a joint statement have stated that the
deployment of on-duty and retired army officers on important key position of
civil administration, the government and semi-government institutes is highly
deplorable and is tantamount to stealing the rights of the smaller provinces. They said that on the one hand, under the
guise of “downsizing and rightsizing”, the Punjabi Establishment is laying off
government and semi-government employees of smaller provinces and making them
unemployed, whereas on the other hand, on-duty and retired army officers are
being deployed on important positions of civil administration, the government
and semi-government institutions. They
asked that if the present government considers that there are surplus employees
in these institutions and under this pretext these employees are being laid off
then why the key positions of these institutions are being filled with the army
officers? This biased attitude of the
present government is generating a question in the minds of the people of the
smaller provinces that we are being pushed towards starvation and the army
officers belonging to the province of Punjab, who are already employed, are
being posted on the key positions in our provinces.
The three leaders said that in
the past, the Punjabi Establishment deprived the Bengalis of their rights,
which resulted in their separation from Pakistan and the creation of
Bangladesh. The Punjabi Establishment
did not learn any lesson from the sad incident of the surrender of 93000 army
personnel in Dhaka and the separation of the East Pakistan. On the contrary, the Punjabi Establishment
was happy that Bengalis have now separated themselves from Pakistan; and now
the Punjabi Establishment can easily rule the remaining Pakistan. As a result of this chauvinistic mentality,
the Punjabi Establishment is carrying out its policy of colonising the smaller
provinces, deny the people of smaller provinces of their due rights, and is
depriving them even with their right to benefit from the resources of their own
provinces. It is a historical fact that
the process of persistent denial of due rights to its citizens by any State not
only breeds “anarchy” but also the process of fragmentation of that State also
begins. The dreadful and alarming
situation faced by Pakistan, internally and externally; and the threats to the
Federation of Pakistan is due to the same colonisation policy of the Punjabi
Establishment. Therefore, the only way
to strengthen Pakistan and its Federation, is to consider all the citizens as
equal, all the provinces and nations of Pakistan be provided equal rights and
powers on the basis of equality of nations, the process of colonisation of
smaller provinces by the Punjabi Establishment must end, and justice be
provided to all. This way we can also
evade the repetition of the tragedy of East Pakistan.
Sardar Ataullah Mengal, Mr
Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Mr Altaf Hussain demanded that the laying off of the
employees, belonging to the smaller provinces, under the pretext of
“downsizing” and “rightsizing” and making them “unemployed”, must be stopped
forthwith. In addition, all those who
have been forcefully laid off must be reinstated, the process of deploying army
officers on the key position in the smaller provinces must end and all those posted
army officers must be sent back to their barracks.