KARACHI: Govt covering up US mly action in Bajaur: APC
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Nov 2: The deputy chief of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Professor Ghafoor Ahmed, said that the killing of 83 people in the recent bombing on a seminary in Bajaur was one of the saddest chapters in the history of Pakistan through which the rulers had appeased their masters in Washington.
He was speaking at the All Parties Conference (APC) convened by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) at the JI’s Karachi headquarters Idara Noor-i-Haq, here on Thursday.
The incidents of targeting its own population have no precedent in the history but our military has created a record by mercilessly killing innocent people in Bajaur, the JI leader said.
He accused President General Pervez Musharraf of continuously betraying the nation and regretted that despite huge reaction across the country on the Bajaur incident; Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz remained tightlipped and did not issue a single statement over the entire issue.
The JI leader held US military responsible for the bombing on Bajaur seminary and accused the rulers of Pakistan of taking the responsibility for the sake of cover-up.
“The Americans killed many innocent seminary students in the darkness of night but our rulers are there to offer a great cover-up to shift responsibility from the imperialist forces,” he said.
Prof Ghafoor said that the proceedings after the Bajaur incident had similarities with what had occurred during the Kargil crisis.
“Our military bosses had shifted the responsibility of Kargil crisis on Nawaz Sharif when they faced hardships afterwards,” he said.
He said there was no doubt in the patriotism of the people of the tribal areas and they were unquestionably guarding the Pakistani borders. “Killing them in such a cold-blooded operation is great injustice towards their continued sacrifices for the betterment and integrity of Pakistan,” he said.
Prof Ghafoor asked why the media representatives were not allowed entry to the site of the massacre. The JI leader said that because, contrary to the governments claim no such militant activities were under way in that area.
He demanded of the authorities to permit media’s entry to the area and to give them free access to find out the actual facts behind the mystery.
The Pakistan Peoples Party’s deputy secretary-general, Prof N.D. Khan said that the Bajaur incident was part of the same sequence of events which were harming the integrity of the country.
He asked the government to make it clear, once and for all, who was responsible for the bombing on Bajaur seminary, Pakistani military or their US counterparts.
He said that all the political parties were against terrorism but every action could not be labeled as terrorism. “Everyone among us wants peace and integrity of our geographical boundaries,” he added.
The PPP leader said that Islam was a religion of peace and seminaries had the history as old as the religion itself. “The world was suddenly told by the imperialistic forces that madressahs are the breeding grounds of terrorism, which is totally untrue,” he said.
The PPP leader demanded for a high-level inquiry into the incident but at the same time he asked who would conduct and supervise the inquiry because there was no proper judicial or parliamentary system in the country. He said that all the political parties had agreed that the military should go back to the barracks.
JI Karachi chief Dr Mairajul Huda Siddiqui said that the bombing on Bajaur seminary clearly showed that the government had nothing but bombs left to offer to its citizens. He said the incident had destroyed the efforts for bringing about permanent peace in Bajaur.
Former governor of Sindh and Pakistan Muslime League (Nawaz) leader Mamnoon Hussain said that the government had put the country’s integrity at stake by killing its own citizens. He called upon the opposition parties to join hands and devise one-point strategy to get rid of the present regime.
ARD Sindh president Zain Ansari said that the government was continuously inflicting injuries to its people. “In April, many religious scholars and innocent people were killed in a blast in Nishtar Park, then Baloch leader Akbar Bugti was killed and now more than 80 innocent people have been killed in Bajaur,” he added.
Tehrik-e-Istaqlal’s Zubair Khan, MMA Karachi chief Siddiq Rathore, JUI-F’s Maulana Abdul Karim Abid, PPP’s Rashid Rabbani, Yousuf Mustikhan, Nusrat Mirza, Qamar Bhatti, Bisharat Mirza and Afzal Sardar also spoke.
