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Mumtaz Bhutto sees solution in confederal system

By Habib Khan Ghori 

Bhutto said there was no more writ of the centre in the provinces, and it left the four provinces with no option but to declare their independence. - File photo
KARACHI: Sardar Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, chairman of the Sindh National Front, has warned that the country is once again on the verge of disintegration because of the centralised ‘dictatorship’, which made the person at the helm behave as a king.
He said no leadership could steer the country out of the present crises except switching over to the confederal system by giving an autonomous and sovereign status to the provinces.
He recalled that 25 years back when he made this proposal, he was sent behind bars and thrown out of the Pakistan People’s Party.
Mr Bhutto was speaking as the chief guest at ‘Meet the press’ programme of the Karachi Press Club on Wednesday.
He said all problems, including people dying from hunger and parents being forced to sell their children to feed themselves, and incidents of suicide, were an outcome of the present system, which was unsuitable for the country.
Mr Bhutto said that in the NWFP an army operation was under way to establish the writ of the government while in Balochistan the hoisting of the Pakistan flag and playing of the national anthem was being opposed.
He added that in Sindh there appeared to be no government. Daily five to six people were being killed in Karachi alone while in the interior of the province no one could venture outdoors after sunset.
As for Punjab, he said, the March 15 long march had made its impact and got the province’s all demands accepted.
He said when five to six days back Punjab was asked to stop the diversion of water through Chashma-Jhelum and Taunsa link canals, members of the Punjab assembly questioned Mr Zardari’s authority to stop Punjab from the use of water.
Mr Bhutto said all this indicated that there was no more writ of the centre in the provinces, and it left the four provinces with no option but to declare their independence.