ARD to back strike by MMA, PONM in Pakistan
Pakistan Times Federal Bureau Report

ISLAMABAD: The Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) on Monday announced its support to the strike calls separately given by MMA and PONM, however, it is still undecided about its participation in both the protest moves.

Briefing newsmen after a meeting of the Alliance, ARD Secretary General Iqbal Zafar Jhagra said that a committee would be constituted soon to decide about the alliance participation in these anti-government moves to be held this week.

However, according to political sources, the two main parties of ARD - PPP and PML-N - could not develop consensus on participating in MMA’s call for shutter-down and wheel-jam on April-2.

The sources added that the PML-N proposed to support MMA call but PPP did not agree to the proposal. Jhagra told the press conference that the ARD was chiefly in support of both the calls.

The ARD meeting was presided over by its Chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim while Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, Nawabzada Mansoor Ali Khan, Begum Tehmina Daultana, Nawaz Gondal, Malik Hakmin, Saifullah Saif and Senator Amanullah Kanrani attended the meeting.

Welcomes Govt Talks with Bugti

The meeting welcomed the positive development in talks between the government and Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti but said that implementation of the decisions was the real issue.

“We are happy that something positive has appeared in the talks but it is yet to be seen whether the government implements its decision,” said Jhagra.

He was of the view that the fresh talks are a result of ARD’s mounting pressure on government to resolve the crisis in Balochistan. Iqbal Zafar Jhagra said that ARD would re-start its public mobilization campaign in the last week of April.

He said the venues and final dates of the public rallies and meetings would be decided later on by the provincial organizations.

To a question, Jhagra who is also the Secretary General of PML-N, said that his party has no reservation about its alliance partner PPP’s possible deal with the government.

Of Benazir's Plea

He agreed with the statement of PPP Chairperson Ms Benazir Bhutto about talks with the government but maintained that the party would not take every decision on ARD platform.

Jhagra disclosed that Benazir Bhutto had conveyed her message through Makhdoom Amin Fahim that her party would hold talks with the government only at the ARD platform.

However, the absence of PPP-P leaders from the press conference raised many doubts about the party’s commitment towards ARD anti-government strategy.
The ARD meeting took a strong notice of General Pervez Musharraf’s repeated statements about not allowing the exiled leaders Ms Benazir Bhutto, Mian Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif to return.

“This is a violation of basic human rights and the Supreme Court verdict in Shahbaz case,” he said.

Law and Order

The member parties expressed concern over the law and order situation in Northern Areas and demanded of the government to arrest the culprits involved in the killing of innocent people.

It was also decided at the meeting that an ARD delegation would visit Northern Areas under the leadership of Mufti Feroz-ud-Din to assess the losses to life and property in the area.

Tehmina Daultana

Speaking on the occasion, Tehmina Daultana came down hard on the government for not allowing the renewal of Nawaz Sharif passport.

The meeting passed six resolutions condemning torture on lawyers in Rawalpindi, detention of political opponents by the government, offer of Pakistan to withdraw troops from Siachen Glacier, law and order situation and the President’s address to public rallies.

Wheel-jam Strike

Meanwhile, the mainstream member party of ARD, PPP, decided to support the shutter-down and wheel-jam strike call given by the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement (PONM) on March-31.

Announcing this, a spokesperson of the party said that PPP has all along expressed solidarity with the teeming masses groaning under the wheel of exploitation set in motion by military dictators.

The party also believes in peaceful political struggle to protest against the wrong policies of the rulers which have multiplied miseries of the people, he said.
He said that the people were already alienated, as the current political dispensation is based on fraudulent referendum, rigged elections and politically motivated accountability.

The rising inflation, unemployment, throwing out of civilians from jobs to accommodate serving and retired military officers, the military operation in Balochistan and undertaking of mega projects without consensus over them has further increased the alienation of the people, he said.

It is for these reasons that the party has decided to back the PONM call for a complete strike within the framework of the 1973 Constitution, the spokesman said.●