LAHORE, Dec 14: The PPP says religion column in passport is a non-issue being raised by 'B-team' of the army government to divert attention of masses from real issues.

Briefing reporters after a meeting of the Punjab executive committee here on Tuesday, provincial information secretary Naveed Chaudhry said earlier the same elements had started the syllabus controversy to engage the masses in trivial matters.

Answering a question, he said the party was of the view that settled matters must not be disturbed. Replying to another query, he said the PPP would decide to join the much talked about national government when the time would come.

Asked chairperson Benazir Bhutto's husband Asif Zardari had said that the party would not be part of any such set-up, the Chaudhry said he was talking of the party policy while Zardari did not hold any office in the PPP.

The executive committee reviewed preparations for the Dec 20 public meeting of the ARD in Sialkot, the first in the province in the new anti-Musharraf drive. The PPP is the largest component of the alliance.

It was decided that Makhdoom Amin Fahim would lead a rally from Lahore to Sialkot early on Dec 20. The PPP office-bearers from Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sargodha and Faisalabad divisions were directed to transport activists from their respective areas to the meeting.

Naveed Chaudhry said the executive had also decided the route of Zardari's rally when he would land at Islamabad airport first time after his release on Dec 21. He claimed that a record number of people would receive the PPP leader in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.