Ziarat attack: BNP-M, JUI-F hit out at Akram Shah’s statement

ISLAMABAD:

Condemning the destruction of Jinnah’s Residency in Ziarat, the Balochistan National Party – Mengal (BNP-M) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam – Fazl (JUI-F) criticised a key coalition partner in Balochistan for ‘implicitly’ supporting an act of terrorism.

“Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) has expressed their age old grudge against the founder of the nation,” said JUI-F spokesman Jan Achakzai.

Voicing a similar opinion, BNP-M’s Vice President Sajid Tareen said they condemn the attack on Jinnah’s Residency and “also condemn the PkMAP General Secretary, Akran Shah, for implicitly supporting this act of terrorism.”

On Sunday, Akram Shah told The Express Tribune that the house at Ziarat was a symbol of slavery as it was built for the colonial British officer, Sir Robert Groves Sandeman, who ruled Balochistan until his death in 1892.

Shah said the house reminded the Baloch and Pashtuns of the period when they were slaves of the British Empire in the Indian Subcontinent.

“It is regrettable that instead of opposing an act of terrorism, the PkMAP leader described the historic building as a symbol of slavery,” Tareen said.

The building carries great significance as it is a part of our national heritage, an annoyed Tareen said.

“Today they are justifying the desecration of national heritage by militants.”

Tareen said Shah’s comments only contradicted one of his earlier statements given at a talk show where he called the bombing of the Residency an act of terrorism.

“Shah, being a leader of a democratic party and a partner of the ruling coalition in Balochistan, should have opposed the act on all accounts.”

“Balochistan governor, Muhammad Khan Achakzai, brother of PkMAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai, should also vacate the governor’s house at Quetta. That too was built by the British,” the BNP-M leader said.

JUI-F’s Jan Achakzai comments resonated with Tareen’s.

“The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) did not destroy the residency because it was a symbol of slavery. If that was the case, why didn’t the BLA not target other buildings built by the British in Balochistan,” Jan Achakzai asked. “They destroyed the Residency as it was accredited to Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. This appeased PkMAP,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18^th, 2013.