6, April 2005	Wednesday	26 Safar 1426

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LAHORE, April 5: MMA President Qazi Husain Ahmad says the Supreme Council of the religious-party alliance will discuss on Wednesday (today) modalities of cooperation with the ARD to press common points the two groupings have already agreed upon. The council was to meet in Islamabad, but the venue has been changed to Lahore because of the inability of the alliance chief to travel to the federal capital.

Qazi Husain is undergoing medical tests and doctors will decide on Wednesday what treatment he needs and whether or not he should stay in hospital. The MMA meeting will be held at Mansoora.

The Qazi told Dawn that PML-N and ARD Secretary-General Iqbal Zafar Jhagra had conveyed him on Tuesday a message of Mian Nawaz Sharif that the ARD was keen to cooperate with the religious alliance.

The two alliances demand that Gen Musharraf should quit both as president and the army chief, restoration of parliament’s sovereignty and the 1973 Constitution in its pre-coup shape, and reconstitution of the election commission jointly by the government and opposition parties.

The Qazi, when asked about the JUI-F’s consistent demand that the NWFP chief minister and MMA secretary-general Maulana Fazlur Rehman be allowed to participate in the National Security Council meetings in the interest of the province under the MMA’s rule, said the controversial body had become irrelevant and there was a need to scrap the enactment, which had brought it into existence.

He recalled that the matter had come under discussion at several meetings in the past and the alliance had expressed its reservations about the NSC. Then, he said, the MMA had demanded reconstitution of the NSC with the prime minister as its chairman and no military official as its member.

Since no demand had been met, there was no reason for a change in the MMA’s stand, he argued.

He said the success of the MMA’s million-man marches and the positive response to the strike call reflected people’s lack of confidence in Gen Musharraf. In such a situation, he said, the NSC and the law under which it was set up, had become irrelevant.

The Qazi saw no reason why the JUI-F chose to bring the matter to the press.

He said JUI-F amir Maulana Fazlur Rehman, being the secretary-general of the alliance, framed the agenda of all meetings and he could have included the matter in the agenda of the Wednesday meeting.

He said the alliance took all decisions by consensus and the question of participation in the NSC meetings would be settled amicably. He said the religious parties were so strongly united that they had become inseparable. There was no question of cracks in the alliance on any issue, he emphasised.

In response to a question, the MMA president said the Punjab Assembly’s resolution that the Gujranwala incident was an act of terrorism was an attempt by the legislature to please Gen Musharraf and the United States.

He said it was also strange that an organization like the MQM, whose alleged involvement in acts of terrorism was no secret, was also holding the MMA responsible for terrorist activities.

He warned that if joint marathon races of boys and girls were organized, a Gujranwala-like situation could not be ruled out.

Meanwhile, Punjab MMA President Liaquat Baloch said at a news conference the alliance would hold a rally between Lahore and Gujranwala on April 16 to press for ending dictatorship and registering protest against the police action in Gujranwala and Layyah.

He said all central leaders of the coalition would address the rally.

After a meeting of the provincial organization of the MMA, said Mr Baloch, the coalition would continue its peaceful struggle for its goals.

He said the MMA was in favour of women’s empowerment, their education and jobs. But, he said, it would not allow anyone to violate their sanctity under the cover of enlightenment.

He alleged that secular agents were out to fulfil their agenda. But, he made it clear that the MMA would stand guard on the religious front.

The alliance, he said, would protest across the country on Friday against the Gujranwala and Layyah incidents. He held President Musharraf responsible for provoking the people against the religious parties through his addresses at public meetings. The chief ministers of the Punjab and Sindh, he said, were also responsible for instigating the masses.