KARACHI: No-one can downgrade Madressah degrees: Fazl
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, July 9: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman has stated that the government wanted some sort of bargaining and political mileage by bringing ulema under pressure on the issue of Madressahs’ degrees (asnad). “But let it be clear that no power in the country can downgrade asnad.”
Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who was in the city during his short visit, was talking to a group of journalists after a gathering at the Jamia Asharful Madaris in Gulistan-i-Jauhar on Sunday. Senator Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro, Qari Mohammad Usman, Maulana Abdul Karim Abid and other opposition leaders were also present on the occasion.
He said there were no differences between the MMA and ARD on the question of army’s involvement in politics as all opposition parties opposed it and wanted to block military interventions.
Regarding the ‘Charter of Democracy’, he said: “It is not our issue, but those of the MRD components… however, for the sake of democracy, we would extend moral support to them.”
In reply to a question about President Musharraf’s re-election, he argued that how could an assembly with a tenure of five years elect a president for 10 years?” Moreover, he added, there was a difference of opinion among members of the government itself on the issue. The opinions of constitutional and legal experts were also before every one, he added. Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who is also Secretary General of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, said there were no differences among MMA component parties. As far as the matter of resignation from the parliament is concerned, we will abide by the decisions taken by the MMA. Submitting resignation letters to the party chief is not an issue, what really matters is submitting the resignations to the speaker of the National Assembly or Senate chairman.
The Maulana said that at present, the MMA was about to launch a mass contact campaign to mobilise people for the planned anti-government drive. The MMA is being reorganised at provincial and district level for effective coordination among activists of component parties.
When his attention was drawn to the ARD’s decision of moving a no-confidence motion in the assembly against the government, he said the MMA had not taken a final decision yet. This would be done at an appropriate time, he said. He appeared not sure about a success in this regard, but did not oppose such a move saying that it was part of the political process.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman referred to the growing unrest among people, and said that people were staging street protests against the government’s flawed policies, poor performance and bad governance. As such, the government should step down, he added.
The MMA leader contested the government’s claim that it had broken the ‘begging bowl’, indicating that the fiscal policies were still being made by the IMF and World Bank while the fate of finance ministry was linked with the IMF’s satisfaction.
Elaborating his point, he said that no relief was provided to common man even in the 7th budget of the Musharraf-led government while prices, unemployment and poverty had been registering a constant rise. “We have been suffering trade deficits due to the declining exports and growing imports,” he added.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that the MMA had formed a parliamentary committee to review the Hudood Ordinance as well as the draft bill prepared by the PPP and the questions being raised by a private channel in this regard.
