ISLAMABAD Feb 16: The ruling Pakistan Muslim League and its allied parliamentary groups met here on Thursday to discuss the wave of violent protests against the publication of blasphemous cartoons and condemned the European countries involved in a vilification campaign against the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him).
Chaired by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, the meeting was attended by PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, PPP-S’ Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao and Rao Sikandar Iqbal, MQM’s Shamim Siddiqi, PML-F’s Justice (retd) Abdur Razzaq Thaheem and Munir Orakzai from Fata.
Answering a question about the presence of members of the so-called forward bloc in the meeting, the prime minister, who briefed the media, said they were allowed to speak out about their specific problems most of which concerned the provincial government.
The meeting at the Prime Minister’s House lasted for well over two and a half hours and mainly focussed on the issue of the blasphemous cartoons. A number of speakers presented their suggestions to defuse the situation.
When asked if the government was going to take any specific decision after the coalition meeting, Prime Minister Aziz said: “Whatever is being done has been reflected in the unanimously passed resolution.”
The resolution passed by the meeting said: “Pakistan Muslim League and its allied parties condemn the vilification campaign initiated by a section of the press in some European countries against the Holy Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him), which has caused a wave of anger, resentment and anguish not only in the world of Islam but also among those who live in the spirit of righteousness.
“The Prophet of Islam Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) is a symbol of peace, equality and solidarity. He emancipated humanity from the chains of ignorance. Religion is sacred in essence and all attempts to profane it were self-defeating.
“We call upon the European Union and the West to take measures in accordance with the Oak’s common position to check this violence in the name of freedom of press.
“We urge the people of Pakistan to express their concern in a peaceful way in accordance with the spirit of Islam.”
The prime minister said that after completion of a lengthy discussion, it emerged that whatever the government had done on the cartoon issue was correct.
He said some participants put forward their complaints about the provincial government, some about delay in their development schemes and others called for frequent one-to-one meetings with him to give vent to their grievances.
Six of the 11 members of the forward bloc also attended the meeting and spoke against policies of the party leadership. They included Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Mazhar Qureshi, Akhtar Kanju, Faiz Tamman, Munir Khokhar and Azhar Yusufzai.
Talking to Dawn, Mazhar Qureshi said the group had complained against what the members termed a planned intimidation campaign by Punjab chief minister against them and ured the party leaders to redress their grievances or allow them to leave the party.
One of them said both the prime minister and Chaudhry Shujaat owed their positions to President General Musharraf as the government and party heads.
