SUKKUR, April 5: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal president Qazi Hussain Ahmad has said that the National Security Council bill is aimed at perpetuating military rule and it will make parliament subservient to the establishment.
He was talking to journalists at the Sukkur Airport on Monday after arriving from Karachi. MMA secretary-general Maulana Fazalur Rehman was also present on the occasion.
Mr Ahmad said that the MMA's mass contact tour of Sindh was aimed at preparing people for safeguarding the democratic system and awakening them against the US agenda.
He was of the view that President Gen Pervez Musharraf wanted to keep the military involved in the government and added that the NSC bill was in line with his whims and wishes.
He denied that the MMA had extended support to the government on the NSC issue, saying that it was disinformation. He said that the NSC was contrary to parliamentary system and his party would not support it. He demanded the exclusion of the NSC clause from the Legal Framework Order package.
The Jamaat-i-Islami Ameer said Federal Information Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmad was spreading disinformation and he had failed to accept challenges on the NSC issue. He said that the MMA was ready to adopt a joint line of action with other opposition parties if the NSC was given an advisory status.
He said that the opposition was united on the issue and it would oppose the bill if the government presented it in parliament. Mr Ahmad said President Musharraf should honour his words about leaving the army post.
Accusing the government of toeing to the US line, the MMA leader said that the nation should remain alert to what he called evil designs of the US. Maulana Fazalur Rehman said that the purpose of forming the NSC was to run the parliamentary system through a 'remote control'.
He said that the NSC was against the autonomy and supremacy of parliament and pledged that the MMA would oppose the bill. He said that the MMA wanted parliament to complete its tenure to strengthen the democratic process.
A large number of MMA activists from Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Sukkur and Khairpur had thronged the airport to welcome their leaders. Later, the MMA leaders drove to Thul, Jacobabad, where they were scheduled to speak at a public meeting.
EYE CAMPS: The Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital is organizing a free eye camp at the Rural Health Centre, Rahimabad, Khanpur Taluka, Shikarpur district, on April 6 and another at the Government Middle School, Goth Bahar Larik, Kingri Taluka, Khairpur district, on April 8.
