Ojhri Camp
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Ojhri Camp (Urdu: اوجھڑی کیمپ ) is located in Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. It was used as an ammunition depot for Afghan Mujahideen fighting against Soviet forces from Afghanistan. It exploded on April 10, 1988 killing more than 5000 people in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
General Zia, who had nominated Muhammad Khan Junejo as Prime Minister for his obvious weak political personality, found his protégé as an obstacle in his schemes. Gradually differences between Zia and Junejo emerged as the Prime Minister tried to assert his authority as head of an elected government over such issues as top military appointments and Afghanistan.
First, they clashed over Zia's refusal to sign the Geneva Accords. Junejo had also organized a round table conference of opposition leaders to get his way.
Secondly, Junejo challenged the appointment of two generals and also demanded that General Zia should quit as the army chief of staff - a position he held since 1976.
The Ojhri camp disaster in which thousands of rockets had rained down over Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Junejo demanded punishment for the army generals responsible for the catastrophe while General Zia - who kept the portfolio of the Army Commander-in-Chief even after the lifting of martial law by extending his own term of office - could not afford to antagonize his constituency. The report blamed General Akhtar Abdur Rahman, Zia's most powerful ally and rumors were spread that the dump, which served as a store for US supplied arms for the Afghan "mujahedeen", had been blown up deliberately just before the arrival of a US defense audit team, to cover up the fact that some Stinger missiles had been sold off to other countries.
The Final showdown took place on May 29, 1988. President General Zia, under article 58(2B) of the amended constitution, dismissed Prime Minister Junejo's government and dissolved the national and provincial assemblies. In sacking Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo, who had just returned from Manila after a foreign tour. General Zia made the following allegations against the Junejo government:
- Law and order in the country had broken down to an alarming extent resulting in tragic loss of human lives.
- Life, property, honor and security of the citizens was rendered totally unsafe.
- The integrity and ideology of Pakistan have been seriously endangered and doubts generated in this regard.
- The president's conscience always pricked that he had not fulfilled his promises regarding the enforcement of Islam made to the people in the referendum of 1984.
- Public morality had deteriorated to an unprecedented level.
- A situation had arisen in which the government of the federation cannot be carried on in accordance with provisions of the constitution necessitating an appeal to the election.
Dictators have ruined the country into poverty, miseries and social disorder causing suicie bombing in Pakistan and elsewhere. Similarly happened during Gen. Zia (the father of dictotors) regime. During his regime Pakistan was forced into American slavery and the signs are visible till today and as a result Pakistan is unable to make its own decision. Ojri camp disastor was a cross punishment for the opposers of dictatorship as well as illegal selling of American arms. the world is able to see the effects of the so-called loss of those arms today in that part of the region. when we look through geographical perspective then we know that Ojri camp blasts was an attempt to spread the weapons industries across the country especially into the north west frontier province of Pakistan causing pashtoons and muhajir conflicts in karachi where the weapons were transported from the NWFP (north west frontier province) of Pakistan. The thorns of that conspiracy will be visible for centuries.
[edit] References
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2008/04/080410_ojhri_faraz_memoir.shtml
