KARACHI, June 29: The central leaders of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, a unified platform of six religious parties, on Saturday rejected the Madaris Ordinance and the constitutional package, terming it a conspiracy of the secular and anti- religious elements to rid the country of its Islamic identity and give it a new constitution.

Speaking at a reception, they said that an ideological war was going on in the country and at the international level, which could only be met through the unity of religious parties and the Ummah.

MMA president Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani in his presidential speech said that Pakistan had been facing this challenge since its creation, but it was the unity of religious forces in the country which had always foiled the attempts of all the secular, socialists and anti-religious elements and its glaring example was the Objective Resolution of 1949 and the 1973 Constitution.

“Today the people in power have become hosts to the US and want to make Pakistan the 53rd state of the US.” He assured the people that the dream of these forces would not be allowed to come true. Maulana Noorani said Pakistan had been facing internal and external challenges and through the unity of religious forces we would succeed in meeting the internal challenges which had been created by secular elements and the so-called Muslims who were keen to repeal the Hudood Ordinance, continue with interest- based economy, eliminate Islamic identity and religious Madaris.

MMA secretary-general Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman said there was no war against terrorism but it was an attempt by the US to control the resources of the region. “It is not a war between the Western and the Islamic civilisations, but to control the resources by use of force and through international organizations who want to exploit the wealth of the poor and the developing countries.”

Criticizing the government for the Ordinance on Madaris and for the new constitutional package, he said that whenever the army had been in power Pakistan had suffered the most. Referring to Siachin incident, separation of East Pakistan and Kargil incident, he said the rulers had been pushing the country to the wall without realizing that there was a conspiracy to eliminate Pakistan from the world map.

Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad said that Kashmir policy was being changed. He said Gen Musharraf had been talking to differentiate between Jehad and terrorism, terming Mujahideen terrorists and wanted to stop the freedom fighters to cross the control line. The JI chief said: “We don’t recognize the Line of Control and will continue to trample it.”

He said the Muslim Ummah was under attack and the unity was the need of the hour and only through unity the designs of the generals could be foiled.

Prof Sajid Mir, chief of Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith, said that the army experiment of the basic democracy and controlled democracy had trampled the rights of people but failed every time as real democracy could not be established through bullets and engineered elections.

Maulana Mohammad Yusuf Shah of JUI (S) said that the ideological and geographical frontiers of the country could be safeguarded through unity of religious forces.

Others who spoke on the occasion included Liaquat Baloch, Pir Ejaz hashmi, Haji Shafi Mohammad Patafi.