ARD condemns military action in Kohlu

The Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) in its emergency meeting here on Friday strongly condemned the 'military action' in Kohlu, and demanded immediate end to it.
ARD chairman Amin Fahim chaired the marathon meeting that took stock of the situation, and cautioned that it could lead to serious repercussions for the country's security and solidarity.
A resolution was also passed, asking the rulers to immediately halt the operation, and pointed out that the use of force against the people of Balochistan was pushing the things towards East Pakistan-like situation.
The resolution called upon the Western countries to side with the oppressed people instead of the dictators and support democratic forces in safeguarding basic human and democratic rights of the people.
It urged the West to exert its pressure on the government to halt using force against people and adopt the path of dialogue to allay the genuine concerns.
The ARD meeting discussed convening an all parties conference on Balochistan situation shortly, and a formal decision to this effect would be taken at its party heads' meeting on December 29.
The same day, a demonstration would be held in front of Parliament House to impress upon the rulers to stop the operation and take measures to ensuring fundamental rights to the people of the province.
Secretary General of the alliance Zafar Iqbal Jhagra told Business Recorder that there was consensus among all leaders that the use of force would further complicate the situation, which the country could not afford.
He said that some proposals on how to handle the situation were also discussed and these would be revealed during the alliance meeting next week.
Various ARD leaders who gathered at Pakistan People's Party Secretariat, openly gave vent to their sentiments on the matter.
They said that the government, among a string of other steps, had started bus service with India to promote amity under confidence-building measures, while opposed to this its tanks, guns and helicopters were being sent to Balochistan to crush people.
Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) Chairman Zafarul Haq gave briefing to the participants on the state of affairs with particular reference to Kohlu.
The meeting reminded the government of the joint declaration issued at the end of the recently held roundtable conference in Lahore, which had opposed coercion against the Baloch people.
The meeting noted that media reports suggested that at least 200 innocent people had been killed, including elderly men, women, and even children, besides hundreds injured and displaced.
Those who attended the meeting were Zafar Iqbal Jhagra, Amanullah Kunrani, Zafar Ali Shah, Tehmina Daultana, Yaqub Nasir, Tariq Chaudhry, Nayyar Bokhari, Manzoor Gillani, Saeed Qadri, Naveed Malik, Saifullah Saif, Feroz Haider, Nawaz Gondal, Naubahar Shah, Sharif Khan, Hakmeen Khan and Liaquat Ali.