LAHORE, June 24: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal has supported the Ittehad-i-Tanzeemat-i-Madaris Deenia’s call for observing June 28 as protest day against the Madaris Registration Ordinance.

The MMA’s decision was announced by Jamaat-i-Islami amir Qazi Husain Ahmad at a press conference here on Monday.

The Qazi also urged the people to come out on roads after Juma prayers to protest police raids on mosques and Madaris under, what he said, the FBI supervision.

Terming the raids in Lahore an act of hooliganism, he said searching the mosques without any justification was an intentional attempt to create harassment among the faithful, prayer leaders and students only to appease anti-Islam forces.

He said religious forces were the well-wishers of humanity and these were being wrongly projected as terrorists. He denied there was any Al Qaeda network in Pakistan and said Indian agency RAW and the US agencies FBI and CIA were involved in terror acts in the country.

But, he regretted, religious parties were being blamed for these acts and it was unfortunate that the government was also supporting this assertion.

He said he had received a disturbing news that Afghanistan’s newly-elect president Hamid Karzai had met Israeli representatives during the Almaty Conference, seeking Israel’s cooperation against terrorism.

“Joining the ranks of enemy forces by Muslim rulers was a shameful act and the Ummat must take a note and protest against it,” he said.

Asked if the raids on mosques and seminaries were being conducted on the instructions of the FBI, the Qazi said the action was being taken under the supervision of the American agency.

He alleged that the interior ministry as well as home departments of all the four provinces had been made answerable to the FBI, US embassy and consulates with the instructions that they would work to the satisfaction of the Americans.

Asked if the instructions were against the sovereignty of the country, the Jamaat chief said the sovereignty had been sold out on Sept 13 last when the Musharraf government had assured the US all out support to its attacks on Afghanistan.

He told a questioner that they were careful while reacting to the government’s wrongdoings for they did not want to give it any pretext to postpone the elections which, he said, was the best way to rid the country of the army rule that was also in the favour of the institution.

The Qazi said involvement of army in civil departments was not a good policy as it affected its defence capabilities.

He opposed postponement of elections even if the border situation was tense as, according to him, polls would spare the army for taking up its actual responsibilities.

Answering a question, he said the next political set-up would be according to the wishes of the masses and if anyone attempted to defy these wishes, there would be a forceful protest.

He said the parliament would be a representative of the masses and not one person. With the restoration of parliament, the judiciary would also be restored as the Supreme Court had itself admitted in the referendum case that the courts were working under the PCO and not the Constitution.

Declaring the law for qualification of MPs as defective, he said even Quaid-i-Azam could have been disqualified under it.

Asked if the Jamaat would challenge it in the courts, he said he did not see any positive outcome of it for the courts would again say that they were functioning under the PCO.

About the change in election rules, he said all these steps would stand as unconstitutional after the restoration of the Constitution.

He said the masses had resentment against the army government and they would not accept its continuation.

The MMA leader said they were ready to meet Gen Musharraf if he was prepared to lift emergency, remove the incumbent chief election commissioner, refrain from one-sided constitutional amendments and forming of the National Security Council.

Asked if the Western powers did not allow the religious elements form the government like in Algeria and Turkey, he warned the quarters concerned any such obstruction would push the country towards Algeria and Turkey-like situation.

The Qazi said noose was being tightened around the nuclear programme of the country and the government must think upon coming out of the situation before Pakistan was deprived of its nuclear assets.