ISLAMABAD, July 20: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) on Wednesday condemned crackdown on the seminaries and the arrest of religious scholars throughout the country. Speaking at a press conference here, Deputy Parliamentary Leader of the MMA in the National Assembly Hafiz Hussain Ahmed said the crackdown was launched on the dictates of the countries, which were “afraid” of the Hasba Bill passed by the NWFP Assembly. He said the London blasts and the passage of Hasba Bill had given an opportunity to the imperialist powers to build up pressure on the military-led government in Pakistan to launch crackdowns on the religious institutions.

He said during the crackdown police arrested hundreds of clerics and injured the girl students of a madressah in Islamabad. He said the government had failed in its doctrine of enlightened moderation.

He regretted that when the injured girl students were carried to the Federal Government Services Hospital (FGSH), there was no doctor available from 8pm to 12pm. He said at late night when a doctor came at the request of State Minister for Health Shehnaz Sheikh, he could not treat the injured girls, as there was no light in the hospital.

Later, in a statement Mian Muhammad Aslam MNA said that the unwarranted raids on the religious institutions and the arrest of religious scholars and brutal torture on the girl students had exposed the undemocratic face of the government.