Musharraf slams religious parties: Address at Peshawar meeting
By M. Ismail Khan
PESHAWAR, April 23: Reprimanding his opponents for misleading the people, President Gen Pervez Musharraf said here on Tuesday he had established his democratic credentials by presenting himself before the nation to seek a five-year term and continuation of his reforms agenda.
“The so-called champions of democracy are misleading the nation against the referendum. What can be more democratic than the fact that I am standing here, asking 140 million people whether I should remain the president,” Musharraf, clad in off-white shalwar qameez said at a big public meeting at Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium.
He was particularly harsh upon religious parties, which, he said, had no right to dub others as un-Islamic. Referring to the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, a conglomerate of religious parties opposed to his rule, he said: “We are all Muslims. No one has the right to champion the cause of Islam.”
The organisers had made elaborate measures to make Gen Musharraf’s Peshawar public meeting a success, though the attendance fell short of their own expectations of 30,000 plus. Besides, Nazims from the districts of Charsadda, Nowshera, Mardan, Swabi, Kohat, Lakki, Karak, Swat and even Mansehra had brought processions to the venue. Peshawar’s lone international cricket stadium has a sitting capacity of 10,000 people while the organisers had laid another 5,000 chairs on the field, still there was room enough for people to wander around freely.
The organisers had begun bringing people to the venue of the meeting early in the afternoon though the public meeting began much later in the evening. The president arrived at 6.30pm and began his address at 7.20pm. The attendance started thinning as the evening began to set in and the president was near concluding his speech. More worrying for the people perhaps was the light drizzle that began soon afterwards. “This is the blessing of Allah,” Musharraf said.
PARTIES SUPPORT: The pro-Musharraf political parties also made their presence felt by hoisting flags around the stadium and sending in droves of their supporters with party flags. The PPP (Sherpao) and Allama Tahirul Qadri’s Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) whose support base in the NWFP is next to nothing, competed with each other in terms of party flags.
Surprisingly though, the PML(Q), whose provincial President Salim Saifullah Khan attended the public meeting, failed to put up any show of strength. There were more party flags of Ajmal Khattak’s NAP and Farooq Leghari’s Millat Party than the PML(Q). Even Imran Khan’s Tehrik-i-Insaf, whose provincial President Nawabzada Mohsin Ali Khan was also there, failed to match the PPP (Sherpao) and PAT.
Security arrangements were elaborate, the SSG jawans had surrounded the main stage that was erected at a distance of 40 metres from the public, while police had taken up positions on buildings overlooking the stadium.
TERRORISM: Musharraf hailed the people of the NWFP for supporting the policies of his government, particularly his support to the international coalition against terrorism.
He said his policies were based on principles and in the larger interest of the people and the country.
The president recalled that there were persons opposed to his policy of supporting the international coalition and brought people on to the streets. “But I had faith and confidence in the people who were with the government. Those who were misleading the people have been proved wrong.”
MISLED YOUTH: He said these same persons had misled innocent young men and taken them across the border to Afghanistan. “Most of them were either killed or caught and jailed.”
He promised to bring the Pakistanis jailed in Afghanistan for fighting on the side of the Taliban. “They are innocent people. Their hearts are clean. They had been misled. I promise to bring them back.”
Musharraf said he had raised the issue of Pakistani prisoners with Afghan interim leader Hamid Karzai, and assured that they would be released in a few days.
He said his government’s main focus was on eradicating poverty and backwardness, and added that he was fully alive to the needs of the people and had initiated several schemes to remove the sense of deprivation among the people of backward areas.
He assured the people that his government would provide all resources and more money to solve their problems.
WORLD IMAGE: The president recalled that when he took over the reign of power in 1999, the international community had written off Pakistan as a ‘drowned’ (‘failed’) state that was also about to be declared a terrorist state.
He credited his government with lifting the international image of Pakistan and restoring its dignity and honour. “The whole world now knows that Pakistan would not sink and that it is a nuclear power of 140 million people.”
Referring to the Chashma Right Bank Canal and Gomal Zam Dam, the president stressed that the M-1 section of the Peshawar- Islamabad Motorway would also be constructed.
He said he had asked NWFP Governor Lt-Gen (retired) Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah to find land and grant ownership rights to the dwellers of Katchi Abadis in the cities and villages.
TRIBAL AREAS: Special attention was also being given to the tribal areas which had been provided Rs1 billion special developmental package apart from the Rs7.5 billion special three-year development programme to bring them at par with the developed areas of the country, he added.
Referring to the long-standing demand of the people of Chitral to provide an all-weather road link with the rest of the country, President Musharraf pledged to build the Lowari tunnel.
“Give us some time. I promise to build the Lowari tunnel. We only need to find the donor.”
He also took note of the growing public complaint regarding load-shedding, and said that his government was working on a comprehensive programme to produce cheap hydel electricity .
PESHAWAR, April 23: Reprimanding his opponents for misleading the people, President Gen Pervez Musharraf said here on Tuesday he had established his democratic credentials by presenting himself before the nation to seek a five-year term and continuation of his reforms agenda.
