May 31, 2007	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 14, 1428

LAHORE, May 30: The Awami National Party has called for a cut in defence budget pleading that such a huge spending on armed forces and armaments is unwarranted when the country is not in war-like conditions.

“The allocation of over 65 per cent of the national resources to defence is not justifiable when education and health put together are getting 4 per cent of the budget,” ANP Secretary-General Muhammad Ehsan Wyne said at a news conference on Wednesday.

He added now when the budget for 2007-08 was due, his party owed a public duty to point out the allocation of national resources to different sectors was highly anomalous.

Flanked by Additional General Secretary Haji Muhammad Adeel, Mr Wyne said at least 25 per cent of the budget should go to education and health each. He said defence budget should be presented in the National Assembly which was competent to approve any spending out of the national income.

He said his party never went for war with any neighbouring state as it believed in peace, prosperity and amity in south Asia. He said Pakistan had been involved in an unnecessary arms race with India which was a country of one billion people. He said the Indian economy was emerging but the national economy was sliding down in the arms race which was like a conspiracy against the country.

Mr Wyne also lashed out at the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and urged the future civilian government to ban “the terrorist organisation” which had taken Karachi and other urban centres of Sindh their hostage. He alleged the MQM promoted linguistic hatred and Gen Pervez Musharraf was behind the conspiracy to make Karachi, a city of many nationalities, a no-go area for the rest of the people.

He said the ANP would fight the conspiracy through political means and the weapon of non-violence which effectively worked in forcing the strong British rulers to leave.

The ANP leader also demanded the resignation of Gen Musharraf for the regime’s failure on internal and external fronts.

He also called for the establishment of a neutral caretaker government to hold fair elections and transfer of power to the elected representatives of the people.

Haji Adeel criticised the MMA government in the NWFP alleging that it had made the life of a majority of the people hostage to a handful of clerics who had systematically eroded the writ of the federal government in many parts of the province.

He said women were being prevented from going to schools and colleges and the common man was pressured to lead their life according the MMA bias against the development of society.