December 19, 2003	Friday	Shawwal 24, 1424

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MULTAN/DERA GHAZI KHAN, Dec 18: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal launched here on Thursday its movement against what its leaders said dictatorship and for revival of the Constitution and supremacy of parliament.

Though the MMA received a moderate response from the people at large in the southern Punjab districts of Multan, Muzaffargarh and Dera Ghazi Khan, its leadership was confident that the alliance would succeed in winning its battle against the ‘one-man rule’.

MMA leaders Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Maulana Samiul Haq, Allama Sajid Mir, Maulana Abdul Jaleel Naqvi, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed and Liaquat Baloch left Multan for Dera Ghazi Khan at about 10.50am in a motorcade that comprised about 100 vehicles.

A Multan police contingent escorted the convoy up to the limits of the district near Sher Shah.

Maulana Samiul Haq and Allama Sajid Mir, however, left the convoy before it reached Muzaffargarh. Addressing a small rally at Fayyaz Chowk in Muzaffargarh city later the MMA leaders maintained that the two leaders left the rally because of health problems.

It was, however, noticed that the two leaders, especially Maulana Samiul Haq, maintained a low profile at the Wednesday night joint press conference in Multan. Some of the JUI-S workers were also heard complaining to the newsmen that they did not ask any question to their leader in the press conference.

The MMA leaders were scheduled to address a rally at Baseera, a small town on way to Dera, but the people there seemed to be indifferent to the presence of the leaders and their motorcade. However, people at Karamdad Qureshi village gave a warm reception and the leaders also obliged them with speeches.

The MMA leaders were accorded a warm welcome when they reached Giderrwala, near Dera Ghazi Khan. The venue of the rally in Dera Ghazi Khan had been changed as it was organized at Saraiki Chowk (formerly traffic chowk) as against the scheduled venue of Liaquat bazaar.

Addressing the rally, MMA’s acting chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed ruled out the possibility of giving a vote of confidence to a “president in uniform”. He said the alliance had preferred to contact the people instead of helping in prolonging the rule of a dictator.

He pledged that the MMA would continue its struggle against the one-man rule.

He said parliament was the only forum to make amendments to the Constitution and that even the Supreme Court had no jurisdiction to amend it. “How can the apex court delegate powers to some one that it itself does not possess?” he asked.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed alleged that Gen Musharraf’s alliance with the United States was against the Muslims of the world rather than against terrorism. He claimed that the US wanted to have permanent military bases in Pakistan and warned that the MMA would foil any such effort of the Musharraf regime.

Condemning the arrest of Allama Sajid Naqvi in the murder case of Maulana Azam Tariq, he alleged that by implicating Allama Naqvi in that case the government wanted to create a rift in the MMA ranks.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed said a handful of feudals had enslaved the people of Punjab and vowed that the MMA would provide a platform to the downtrodden to rid themselves of the ‘Sardari’ and ‘Tumandari’ system, especially in southern Punjab.

He urged the people to support the MMA in the next general election like the people of the NWFP and Balochistan in the last general election.

JUI chief and alliance’s secretary-general Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the need of a movement against the government was felt because the ruling coalition wanted to prolong the rule of a dictator who was responsible for the devastation of Afghanistan and making country’s borders vulnerable to enemies’ attack.

He said the MMA promoted the culture of political tolerance and dialogue as it tried its best to resolve the constitutional impasse through negotiations but its one-year work in this regard proved futile.

He categorically said that the amendments introduced by ‘one man’ could not be accepted as part of the Constitution.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman claimed that it had been agreed between the MMA and the government negotiation teams that the suspended articles about the president’s office would be restored as part of the package that had to be presented in parliament.

Speaking about the government efforts to streamline religious schools, Maulana Fazl said seminaries would not furnish the information about the number of students and sources of income.

Speaking on the occasion, MMA’s central leader Liaquat Baloch criticized what he termed pro-American policies of the Musharraf regime and the faulty management of economy.

He said it had been decided in the proposed constitutional package that Gen Musharraf would shed his uniform by Dec 31, 2004, amendments to the Constitution could be accepted if approved by a two-thirds majority by the National Assembly and the National Security Council would have no constitutional cover.

“Sooner or later the government will have to table the constitutional package in parliament,” he added.

The rally was also addressed by Hafiz Hussain, Maulana Abdul Jaleel Naqvi, Hidayatullah Pasruri and Khalid Mehmood Nadeem Shah. The MMA leaders will proceed for Okara on Friday from Multan to hold a protest rally there.