Article

2004-09-04 Afghanistan/South Asia

Mahmood Khan Achakzai, chairman of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), on Friday said that Pakistan was a multi-nation state where each nation should have equal rights and control over its own resources. Mr Achakzai said that Pakhtuns wanted to live in a separate province. He demanded a new constitution because he believed the 1973 Constitution was an impediment in their way. Mr Achakzai said his party wanted equal rights for every "nation" in the country and that each "nation" should have control over its own resources. "That's what the UN Charter says," he added.

We're halfway to what we want. They get a separate nation, now all we need is the razor wire and moat for the border.

The nationalist leader from Balochistan strongly opposed the role of the army and intelligence agencies in the country's politics. "Unless they (army and intelligence agencies) stay away from politics, Pakistan can never stop experiencing internal political crises and external threats," said the PkMAP chief while speaking at a Peshawar Press Club programme. Mr Achakzai, whose party is part of the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement (PONM), urged all religious and political parties to get together at one platform to struggle for a separate Pakhtun province with a name other than the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). He said the army and the intelligence agencies blackmailed and bribed politicians to change their loyalties and join other parties, which was earning Pakistan a bad reputation. "The country has seen three prime ministers in three months at the behest of a general which is dangerous politics," he said. He added that his party wanted democracy and supremacy of parliament. Mr Achakzai said the 1973 Constitution did not exist anymore as it had now been transformed into the Legal Framework Order (LFO) by a uniformed president. "It's martial law and the chief martial law administrator and his corps commanders are ruling the country. It's dangerous for the survival of the country," said Mr Achakzai. The Pakhtun nationalist held the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) leaders Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Maulana Fazlur Rehman responsible for accepting the 17th Amendment and strengthening the hands of President General Pervez Musharraf. "The general was all alone and had no way out of the situation but the MMA provided him safe passage by accepting the LFO in the form of the 17th Amendment," he said.

Posted by Fred 2004-09-04 11:24:16 AM|| || Front Page|| [11134 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Actually the Pakhtunkhwa movement weas traditionally a secular, liberal movement that was opposed to both the Islamic Fundamentalists and the Military establishment, which is why the latter two worked together to crush it.

Posted by Paul Moloney 2004-09-04 7:41:51 PM|| 2004-09-04 7:41:51 PM|| Front Page Top

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