- 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. The camp exploded on April 10, 1988, killing more than 1,000 people [1][2] in Rawalpindi and Islamabad as a result of rockets and other munitions expelled by the blast.Recently begum kalsom saifullah,a seasoned politician and mother of salim saifullah accounted in his autobiography “my solo flight” the incident,in following words “I can confidently say that some Stinger missiles were taken out of the Ojhri Camp on orders from General Zia so that they can be provided to Iran, and Gen Zia ordered that Ojhri Camp be blown up before the arrival of the US inspection team.”[citation needed]
US officials blamed sabotage for the explosion.[3] There was speculation that the explosion was done by Pakistani agents to cover up a pilferage of the weapons stocks, including Stinger missiles.[4] The true cause of the explosion remains a mystery.
Political fallout
The blast happened during tension between Pakistani President Mohammad Zia ul-Haq and Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo. Zia had chosen Junejo as Prime Minister for his weak political personality, but deftly 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.
General Akhtar Abdur Rahman had urged the Junejo government to relocate the Ojhri ammunition depot outside the city but Junejo refused to provide the money for the transfer. General Akhtar Abdur Rahman was the front-man in conducting the war in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union and was the second most powerful man in Pakistan at that time.[5]
To subvert the blame, Junejo demanded punishment for the army generals who he deemed 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. Junejo blamed General Akhtar Abdur Rahman, 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.[6] 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.
References
- ^ Ojhri disaster saw end of Junejo govt: Report
- ^ http://www.pakistanidefenceforum.com/lofiversion/index.php/t46043.html
- ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEEDA103CF934A25757C0A96E948260
- ^ http://www.dawn.com/2008/04/11/nat26.htm
- ^ http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/local/islamabad/ojhri-camp-tragedy-lives-on-in-other-form-040
- ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEFDF103DF937A25755C0A96E948260
http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/18/begum-saifullahs-book-lands-like-minded-in-trouble.html
External links
- BBC.co.uk ojhri_faraz_memoir (Urdu)
- Remembering the Ojhri Camp Blast
- 20 years on, Ojhri Camp truth remains locked up
- Ojhri disaster saw end of Junejo govt: Report
Categories:- Military history of Pakistan
- Rawalpindi District
- Explosions in Pakistan
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