K-P Assembly condemns US bill on Balochistan

MPAs say conspiracies are afoot to try and break up Pakistan.

PESHAWAR:

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly passed a unanimous resolution condemning a bill tabled in the US House of Representatives, calling upon Pakistan to recognise Baloch right to self-determination.

The issue was taken up by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Javed Abbasi on an adjournment motion, drawing attention of the house to the motion moved by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher. In his speech, he termed it an insult to every Pakistani.

He asserted that conspiracies were afoot to try and split Pakistan. He termed the bill an attack on the sovereignty of this country, adding that both the assembly and senate sessions should have been called earlier to discuss this issue.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUIF) lawmaker Maulana Kifayatullah alleged that America was funding efforts to break up Pakistan. He claimed that it suffered losses worth US$70 billion to fight the war on terror and lost 40,000 lives to the cause, while it was given a paltry sum of US$4 billion in return. Kifayatullah said that peace would return only if Pakistan opted out of the US-led coalition on the war.

Senior Minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour told the house that the federal government should continue its blockade of Nato supplies through its borders into Afghanistan. He added that Akbar Bugti’s killing led to the deterioration of Balochistan. Bilour appealed to the government to take the province’s issue seriously, and announce an amnesty for those in custody. He said the US resolution held no value.

Bilour read out the agenda, implying that the “resolution calling for making Balochistan into an independent territory was a conspiracy against Pakistan’s territorial integrity, national security and sovereignty.”

It added that Rohrabacher’s stance had led to a wave of anger among Pakistanis, and was a violation of the UN Charter on international laws.

The session concluded by demanding the federal government to summon the US Ambassador to the Foreign Office and lodge a protest with him.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 23^rd, 2012.