September 07, 2006	Thursday	Sha'aban 13, 1427

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RAWALPINDI, Sept 6: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal has decided to quit the provincial governments in the NWFP and Balochistan and resign from the parliament if amendments to the Hudood Ordinance are approved by the National Assembly, MMA leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed said here on Wednesday.

Making the announcement at a public meeting at the Liaquat Bagh, held to commemorate the Defence of Pakistan Day, Qazi Hussain said a meeting of the parliamentary party would be called to formalize the decision.

He said MMA’s struggle would continue till the formation of a real Islamic government in the country. He said that dictatorship was a great threat to the integrity of the country and urged the people to get ready and oust President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Addressing the public meeting, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that the military leadership should learn a lesson from the past.

He held Gen Musharraf responsible of the present situation, and said that he was pushing religious people towards extremism. He asked the government to withdraw the proposed amendments to the Hudood Ordinance.

Tehrik Insaf chief Imran Khan said that the grand alliance of all political parties was the need of the hour so that the country should be put on the road to real democracy under which courts could function independently and laws could be framed in accordance with the Shariat. Provision of education, health facilities, justice and employment would be the responsibility of the state.

PML-N leader Raja Zafarul Haq described the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti as extra-judicial murder. It was a crime against Pakistan, he added.

MNA Liaquat Baloch said all opposition parties had agreed on the formation of the grand alliance. The role of the army from politics should end. The country should have an independent judiciary and powerful election commission, he added.

Various leaders of opposition parties, including Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, Maulana Sirajul Haq and MNAs from Fata, also addressed the public meeting.