20 July 2004	Tuesday	02 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

HYDERABAD, July 19: The general secretary of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, Sindh, Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro, has said that the MMA will launch a protest movement throughout Sindh against an inordinate delay in arresting the murderers of Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai.

Speaking at a news conference here on Monday, he said those who could not provide protection of life and property to the people had no right to govern. He said anyone with beard and turban was taken as a member of the Al-Qaeda by the government.

He said this was inspite of the fact that not a single member of the Al-Qaeda was living in the country. Mr Soomro accused President Gen Pervez Musharraf of converting Pakistan into a colony of America.

Rejecting the ban on loud speakers in mosques, he alleged those fomenting sectarian hatred enjoyed the blessings of the government. He demanded that the government should lift ban on the use of loud speakers in mosques and added that a ban should be imposed on those Mullahs who were spreading sectarian hatred among the people.

He said a meeting of the Majlis-i-Shura was being held in Sukkur on July 29, which would evolve a strategy for the province-wide protest. He also condemned the murder of a young preacher Hayee Mekho in Shikarpur and demanded that his killers be arrested. He called upon the government to take effective steps to check ever increasing lawlessness in Sindh.

Maulana Taj Mohammad Nahiyoon, Azam Jahangiri, Khalid Dhamrah and others were present on the occasion.

JUP: Central senior vice-president JUP MNA Dr Abul Khair Mohammad Zubair has criticized the interference of the government into the affairs of religious schools.

He was speaking at the Sindh meeting of the Markazi Jamat-i- Ahl-e-Sunnat here on Monday. In his presidential speech, the central Amir of the Jamaat, Pir Abdul Khaliq of Bharchundi Sharif said that the very ideology of the country was in danger due to pro-American policies of the government.

He demanded that the government should review its policies and take effective measures to eliminate lawlessness, poverty, price hike, terrorism and sectarianism from the country.

Mufti Mohammad Jan, Pir Abdul Baqi, Maulana Sharif Sarqi, Pir Syed Abdul Qadir Shah Jilani and others also spoke on the occasion. The meeting adopted several resolutions, strongly opposing any amendments in the Hudood Ordinance and other Islamic laws.

It demanded that the ban on the use of loud speakers in mosques should be lifted. It also demanded that all those parties involved in such cases should be awarded deterrent punishment.