The Daily DAWN: Saturday, November 21, 1998

Sindh again target of aggression, says Altaf
By Our Staff Correspondent

LONDON, Nov 20: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Chief Altaf Hussain said on Friday that by conferring powers to army under Article 245 of the constitution, the Centre has once again launched an "aggression" against the people of Sindh and a part of its nefarious plan to colonise the province.

"This ordinance (allowing army to use powers under Article 245 of the constitution) is an ordinance to impose dictatorship in the country, to seize the fundamental rights of the people of Sindh and to make the province of Sindh a colony of Centre," MQM Chief Altaf Hussain said while taking to Dawn this afternoon.

The MQM chief, who is living in self-exile in London since 1992 when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif launched a similar military operation in Sindh during his first stint in the government, said Mr Sharif has once again pitched the army against the innocent people of Sindh in general and Mohajir community in particular for achieving his own political objectives.

Talking to this correspondent by telephone from his international secretariat in North London, Altaf Hussain said he does not consider this ordinance as a simple implementation of Article 245 but a "conspiracy against the Sindh province".

"The government has seized the fundamental rights of the people of Sindh, they have been denied of their fundamental rights of freedom of expression," he said and added that even the acts of the armed forces could not be challenged in any court of law.

Mr Hussain said that it is the second time that Nawaz Sharif has pitched the army against its own people and warned that such a stand-off between the army and the people can have grave consequences for the unity and solidarity of the country.

He said that the problems cannot be solved through the use of force or by holding summary military trails. "Using armed forces against the people can create a wedge between the army and the people which will be harmful for the country."

Mr Hussain said the situation on borders demanded that there should be unity and understanding between the people and the armed forces but regretted that instead of allowing the army to concentrate on national defence, the PM had pitched it against the people.