December 06, 2006	Wednesday	Ziqa'ad 14, 1427

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD, Dec 5: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) has released a video on the deadly missile strike on a seminary in Bajaur Agency along with leaflets condemning the government’s “pro-US” policies and urging people to stand up against the present military rulers.

The 13-minute video captures the destruction of the seminary in the Oct 30 strike with commentaries in English, Urdu, Arabic and Pushto languages terming the attack a handiwork of the US forces stationed in Afghanistan and contradicting the government’s claims that the operation against “terrorists” was carried out by the security forces of Pakistan.

The video, sent to the newspapers offices in Islamabad, shows the damaged walls of Ziaul Uloom Taleemul Quran Madressah inscribed with Quranic verses, the scattered shoes of the victims, their graves and national identity cards of some of them. It also includes interviews of some local residents, who claimed that most of those killed were children.

What seemed to be part of the MMA’s election campaign, the CD also shows visits to the site by the former NWFP senior minister Sirajul Haq and former MNA from Bajaur Agency Haroonur Rashid, who also announced his decision there to resign from the National Assembly.

Also distributed with the CD was a letter signed by Jamaat-i- Islami Information Secretary S.A. Shamsi that criticised the government for not allowing MMA chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed and mediapersons to visit the site.

One MMA leaflet appealed to the people to “come out” along with their leaders against what it called a “very weak ruler, who could sacrifice Islam, nuclear assets, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, the tribal areas, oil and gas-rich Balochistan and everything on only one telephone call to save his rule”. “The nation will not accept another general after departure of this weak general,” the leaflet further said.

The MMA listed a number of one-time pro-US rulers like the Shah of Iran Raza Shah Pehalwi, Anastasio Somoza of Nicaragua, Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, General Noreiga of Panama, General Augusto Pinochet of Chile and Saddam Hussein of Iraq who, it said, were left high and dry when the US should have stood on their side.

Another leaflet cited cases of alleged malpractices and corruption by the present rulers including the recent sugar crisis, increase in oil price, stock market crashes, the scrapped sale of Pakistan Steel Mills and the purchase of 32 luxury Mercedes Benz cars and 55 other vehicles for the ministers. “Get up and be part of the movement to get rid of the military rulers,” it said.