President asks people to fight extremism: Address at Multan public meeting
By Nadeem Saeed
MULTAN, Feb 26: President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday asked the people to combat forces of extremism and stop Islamic extremists from misusing mosques and seminaries.
Speaking at a rally in Multan, Gen Musharraf said eliminating extremism was vital to turn the country into a modern, prosperous and progressive state.
"Those who are using our sacred places like mosques and religious schools to spread extremism and hatred should be stopped," he said.
"Don't support them. Stand against them and speak against them.
"Pakistan needs enlightened moderation to be spread among the people at this time. Whoever is trying to take us to extremism, is in fact leading us to disaster," he declared.
The president emphasized that the nation had to demonstrate through its actions that Pakistan, as a peace-loving and progressive country, was capable of moving forward in the world.
"Pakistan does not exist in a vacuum, we have to co-exist peacefully as an important part in the comity of nations.
"If we want to increase trade, check poverty and make rapid progress, we will have to move forward as an integral part of the world," he declared amid wide cheers from a huge crowd.
The president underscored the importance of curbing extremist tendencies in society. He said that by effectively tackling the menace of extremism, the country would face no hurdle in the way of its fast-paced development, he added.
The country, he said, came into being as an ideological Islamic state, where minorities enjoyed full rights. It needed a modern approach instead of retrogressive and old thinking to project the true face of Islam and to make the country as a truly dynamic Islamic Welfare State.
"The time demands enlightenment moderation from the nation. It also needs to enhance its economic and defence pillars," the president said.
Gen Musharraf claimed he had introduced true democracy in the country, saying that dynamics of democracy were deeper than the debate on uniform and shalwar-kameez. He said the success of the devolution plan had inspired many a developing countries of the world and now they wanted to copy it from Pakistan. "It is a silent revolution in the making," he declared amidst huge applause of the people.
The president said his government was now focusing on bettering economic conditions of the common man after remarkable economic revival at the macro level.
He asserted that the country had not only refused to further borrow from the International Monetary Fund, it was now in a position to help other countries especially the Muslim states.
He said Pakistan had come out of international isolation under his tenure and now the world leaders consulted the Pakistani leadership on vital issues.
He praised cotton growers of the country for producing an all-time high production of more than 14 million bales. He said the government had so far disbursed Rs90 billion loans in the farm sector this year and in the next couple of years the amount would be increased to Rs150 billion.
He announced a development package for the city that included grant of Rs300m for the construction of southern and northern bypasses and establishment of a women university and a TV station in Multan.
He underlined the need for keeping the southern Punjab on a par with the northern part of the province in the development process. He reiterated his stance that new reservoirs were must to cope with the impending water crisis in the country.
Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi highlighted development endeavours his provincial government had launched in Multan and other districts of southern Punjab. He said the provincial government had allocated 11 per cent more development funds for southern Punjab as compared to its share on the basis of population.
He said Rs23 billion had been allocated for the development of southern Punjab.
The chief minister announced that a cardiology hospital will start functioning in May this year in the city.
Federal Agriculture Minister Haji Sikander Hayat Bosan presented the welcome address.
Extraordinary security measures were taken in and around the venue of the Multan Cricket Stadium. The president had been in the town since Friday night. Earlier, he addressed soldiers of the Pakistan Army at the Multan Corps Headquarters before coming to the MCS in a helicopter.
