PESHAWAR, April 24: Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party president Mehmood Khan Achakzai has called for a new constitution guaranteeing equal rights to the federating units.
Speaking at a ‘Meet the Press’ programme at the press club here on Monday, he said every institution of the country had collapsed and if the role of the army and intelligence agencies in politics was not ended, Pakistan would soon become a failed state. Other leaders of the party were also present.
Rejecting the repeatedly amended 1973 Constitution, he said that in the new constitution, all the federating units should be given equal rights and the role of the army and intelligence agencies should be ended forever.
Mr Achakzai said that if the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy sincerely initiated a movement based on a one-point agenda to end the role of the army and intelligence agencies in politics, the whole nation would support them.
He said political parties should not allow in their ranks what he called evergreen elements who always remained in power by supporting every ruler of the country.
He alleged that there was propaganda against Pakhtuns at the world level that they were terrorists, kidnappers and drug smugglers. He urged Pakhtun journalists, politicians and intellectuals to come forward and foil the nefarious designs of the enemies.
He said Pakhtuns only wanted control over their resources. He said the province had natural resources in abundance but its people were being deprived of their rights.
He said nationalities whether they were Sindhis, Balochis or Pakhtuns should get their rights.
The nationalist leader said the foreign policy of Pakistan had failed and the country had been isolated in the comity of nations.
Stressing the need for an independent judiciary, he said judges who had supported martial laws under the so-called doctrine of necessity and other pretexts should be disqualified and their privileges taken back. He said only honest judges should be appointed.
Commenting on demands of some politicians that President Gen Musharraf should resign, he said his party would support all those who were sincere in eliminating the role of the army in politics.
Answering a question about Balochistan and Waziristan situations, he said foreigners and the Pakistani army both should leave Waziristan and then elders of the area should find a solution to the problem through a jirga and consultation. He blamed Gen Musharraf for the Waziristan mess.
He said the crisis in Balochistan was not just a problem of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti but of the whole nation.
He said that until all nationalities were given equal rights, such problems would emerge and Bengal-like situation would occur.
Mr Achakzai demanded that areas of Pakhtuns in Balochistan and the NWFP should be declared one province.
Replying to a question about the Durand Line, he said the issue of border between Afghanistan and the NWFP should be decided by the people on both sides of the border. He claimed that neither Pakistan nor the US could resolve the issue.
He said his party would continue its peaceful struggle for the rights of Pakhtuns.
He alleged that Punjab and the military bureaucracy had usurped the water share of the Frontier province. He claimed that the water of the NWFP had been diverted to the Ghazi Barotha Power Project. He regretted that no steps were being taken to provide water to southern districts of the province.
He rejected accords for distributing water among the provinces. He said the government was adamant on constructing the Kalabagh dam though the project had been rejected by three provincial assemblies. He said the government was insisting that the water accords had been signed by parliamentarians but they did not consider the resolutions of the three assemblies on big dams.
