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| 09 January 2004 | Friday | 16 Ziqa'ad 1424 |
MMA wants talks with India discussed in NA
LAHORE, Jan 8: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal on Thursday called upon the government to take parliament into confidence over the Saarc summit and the meeting held between President Gen Pervez Musharraf and the India prime minister.
Briefing reporters after a meeting of the supreme council of the alliance, secretary-general Maulana Fazlur Rahman said they had reservations on the additional anti-terror protocol signed at the summit, saying it might create problems for the Kashmir cause as well as Pakistan.
Accompanied by acting president Qazi Hussain Ahmad and other MMA leaders, Maulana Fazl termed Pakistan-India talks a positive development, but warned that Gen Musharraf's statement of setting aside the UN resolutions on Kashmir could weaken Islamabad's stand on the issue.
He said the alliance had decided to observe Feb 5 as 'solidarity day' for reiterating support to Kashmiri people. He said the MMA would launch a countrywide mass-contact drive from Jan 18 to press the government for the implementation of the recommendations of the Council of Islamic Ideology. The first public meeting would be held at Karachi. An MMA summit conference would also be held there the same evening.
Maulana Fazl said they had handed the government a list of their representatives for a constitution review committee to be formed under the agreement reached with the government.
The alliance formed a body comprising Liaquat Baloch, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, Pir Ijaz Hashmi and Abdul Jalil Naqvi to work for the release of vice-president Allama Sajid Naqvi.
The MMA leader reiterated that they would remain part of the opposition as they had differences with various official policies. He dispelled the impression that the fear of sacking of MMA governments in the NWFP and Balochistan had forced them to sign the deal on the LFO, saying "these points never figured in talks".
Asked if assemblies would complete their tenure, Qazi Hussain Ahmed replied in affirmative, adding "because the MMA was there to protect them". The MMA released a 17-point agenda for safeguarding the Islamic character of the country and resolving people's problems. It included amending Article 2 in order to declare Quran and Sunnah supreme law of the country, abolishing Clause 89 to stop legislation through ordinances, implementing recommendations of the CII through parliament, restoring Friday as the weekly holiday, and framing economic, education and media policies in the light of Islamic doctrines.
The alliance sought a foreign policy that could serve national interests keeping in view the ideological basis of the country, a policy aimed at giving women their due rights, protection to rights of minorities, lifting restrictions on the construction of mosques, withdrawing the Madressah Ordinance, inclusion of subjects of Islamiat in the curricula of schools and colleges, curbing vulgarity on electronic media, etc.
It demanded recovery of air bases being used by the US forces and granting provincial autonomy as enshrined in the Constitution. The MMA leaders later spoke at a reception at Ghalib Market.
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