LAHORE, Nov 28: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Monday made an impassioned plea to youths to “stop the people involved in spreading (religious) hatred and militancy and disturbing peace” in the country and abroad. “Whoever is spreading hatred, extremism and militancy needs to be stopped. We must forge unity and harmonize our society,” he told university students who had gathered at Aiwan-i-Iqbal to take oath as volunteers.
The ceremony, attended by students from different universities of Punjab, was held to mark what Governor Khalid Maqbool said was the launch of the universities chapter of the National Volunteer Movement (NVM).
President Musharraf cautioned that Pakistan would not move forward if it did not command respect (of other nations). “If you don’t command authority or do not enjoy a good reputation, you have to listen to what others tell you and accept their viewpoint…If we want to move forward, we’ll have to acquire knowledge and achieve economic development and prosperity,” he said.
He said extremists were involved in sectarian violence in the country and terrorism outside it. “The terrorists neither have any understanding of their end goal nor do they have the ability to achieve anything. They are just tarnishing the name of Pakistan (in the comity of nations),” he said.
RECONSTRUCTION OF QUAKE ZONE: Earlier, the president said he had no doubt in his mind that “we will be able to convert the challenge (posed by devastation caused by the Oct 8 earthquake) into an opportunity”.
He said the government had a complete understanding of the task, had formulated a comprehensive strategy and mobilized resources (from national and international sources) for undertaking the massive reconstruction and rehabilitation work for survivors of the quake.
He said the government had already distributed Rs8 billion in cash out of Rs20 billion set aside for the purpose.
The government plans to distribute Rs25,000 to 400,000 survivors of the quake. In addition, he said a sum of Rs80 billion — Rs125,000 each among 400,000 affected people — would be distributed for construction of houses.
He said the government would also provide guidance to the survivors for constructing earthquake resistant houses. “Anyone following those guidelines will be entitled to an additional financial assistance of Rs25,000 as an incentive.” he said.
Besides, he said, around $4 billion would be spent on the reconstruction of government, health, education and other infrastructure in the quake-affected areas of AJK and the NWFP.
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