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| December 14, 2005 | Wednesday | Ziqa’ad 11, 1426 |
Altaf calls for consensus
LAHORE, Dec 13: Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Altaf Husain says the construction of Kalabagh dam without a national consensus will be a serious blow to the federation.
Answering questions at the Supreme Court Bar Association programme ‘encounter’ by telephone from London on Tuesday, Mr Husain said his personal view on the multi-purpose reservoir was immaterial when Sindh, Frontier and Balochistan were opposed to it.
“Punjab should take other federating units into confidence by allaying their reservations. If such a development takes place, then there is no harm in going ahead”.
SCBA president Malik Mohammad Qayyum presided over the event which was attended by several MQM leaders, including federal ministers Dr Farooq Sattar and Aftab Ahmad Sheikh. Lawyers, who attended the ceremony in a large number, posed a few ticklish questions which the Muttahida leader answered in detail.
Replying to another question, Mr Husain said that he was prepared to end his 14-year exile and return home to face cases against him provided the judiciary was independent.
“My life has been and continues to be in danger in Pakistan in the wake of lawlessness in the country,” he said and asked the questioner in a light vein why he wanted him to be a scapegoat.
MQM chief said all the political leaders in exile, including Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, be allowed to return home and face courts. But for that the lawyers’ community had to be strong enough to assure them that they would be given justice by courts. He said he had anxiously been waiting to return home but every time he came across a new situation which thwarted his plans.
Replying to yet another question, Mr Husain said there was no martial law but a military government in the country. He said almost all the constitutional institutions like parliament, cabinets and the federal system were working and political parties were also allowed to function. “It is not the MQM alone but all the political organizations are cooperating with the military-led government in one way or the other.”
He said the MQM was prepared to quit the coalition government if all political forces, including the MMA, the PPP and the PML-N, joined hand to work out a one-point programme of achieving undiluted democracy and dispensing with the political role of the armed forces once for all. He said that the MQM had time and again contacted all the political organizations with the same proposal but every time there had been no outcome, not even a response.
Mr Husain did not oppose President Gen Pervez Musharraf retaining the two offices. “Instead of indulging in petty matters, efforts should be made to stop military intervention in future.” Asked why his party could not so far assume a national character, he said the MQM was the second largest party in Sindh and had a substantial representation on the National Assembly and the Sindh legislatures. He, however, admitted that the party could not attain a similar popularity in other provinces although its organizations were working there.
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