KARACHI, Nov 21: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal will hold protest rallies in Waziristan and other areas in the tribal belt of the NWFP and Balochistan against the military operation there. The protest demonstrations will be addressed by central leaders of the religious parties and elected representatives from the tribal areas.

This was announced by the Deputy Secretary General of MMA, MNA Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, while talking to a group of newsmen at the alliance’s Shershah office on Friday. MMA’s Provincial Information Secretary, Qari Muhammad Usman, was also present on the occasion.

Hafiz Ahmed said the deadline of Dec 18, given by the MMA Supreme Council to the government for bringing a constitutional amendment bill in the National Assembly, was “precise and final”.

“If the government fails to bring the agreed upon bill in the NA by Dec 18, 2003, it will face ‘Remove Musharraf campaign’ from MMA,” he said, adding the protest meetings against the military operation in the tribal areas would be held immediately after Eid-ul-Fitr.

He said MMA would appeal to the people of the tribal areas to attend its meetings without their arms and if they were not allowed to do so the religious parties would take appropriate steps.

MMA leader alleged that both the prime minister and parliamentary party leader of PML-Q — Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain — were willing to bring the constitutional amendment bill in the National Assembly, but Sharifuddin Pirzada had advised President Musharraf not to allow this.

“Mr Pirzada is the biggest hurdle in the restoration of the 1973 Constitution and if any of the opposition parties comes into the power, he would have to face courts under Article 6 of the Constitution,” he claimed. — PPI