Washington: A group of dissident Pakistanis has expressed deep disappointment over continuous military intervention and abridgement of democratic freedoms in Pakistan and called on mainstream parties to stand up for civilian supremacy, constitutional governance, and rule of law in the country.
The group also demanded that the Pakistan military must put an end to the continuing use of extremist militant groups as instruments of foreign and domestic policy and for that matter treating the western border of the country as the strategic backyard of Pakistan.
Under the banner of South Asians Against Terrorism & For Human Rights (SAATH) Forum, the group that includes Pakistan's former envoy to the US Hussain Haqqani, said the security agencies must close torture cells and black sites, known as internment centres, and either bring cases against thousands of detainees before the regular courts of law to stand trial or release them unconditionally.
We are also disappointed in Pakistan's mainstream political parties and their willingness to continuously cede space to military intervention and abridgement of democratic freedoms. These parties must practice internal democracy and acknowledge that democracy is not just seeking office through elections, the SAATH said in a resolution.
Pakistan's mainstream political parties must stand up for civilian supremacy, constitutional governance, and rule of law and not be content with the power of patronage granted to them through manipulated elections, it said.
The dissident members participated in a fourth edition of the SAATH conference and also passed the resolution calling for an end to military oppression in Balochistan.
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The security agencies must put an end to enforced disappearances and account for thousands of missing persons and those extra-judicially killed. To that end, there is a dire need for the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to bring closure to the victims of state-sponsored oppression, the resolution said.
Prominent among those who participated included US-based columnist Mohammad Taqi, former senator Afrasiab Khattak, former ambassador Kamran Shafi, former editor of Daily Times Rashed Rahman, journalists Taha Siddiqui, Gul Bukhari, and Marvi Sirmed and activist Gulalai Ismail.