KARACHI, Jan 25: The President of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, says conditions are ripe for a mass drive to topple the government provided all opposition parties decide to wage a joint struggle. He was speaking at a seminar on “A journey of democratic struggle against dictatorship … Makhdoom Jawed Hashmi – 40 years of struggle and detention”, at Press Club on Wednesday.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed said all opposition parties had to devise a joint strategy and trust each other to begin a struggle for democracy. He said the government had been bombing areas right from Waziristan and Bajaur to Balochistan, and there was no one to challenge it.

“We don’t need to initiate an armed struggle. We have street power and if we all trust each other, we can get the people on the streets. The fall of an undemocratic government is not a matter of years or months,” he maintained.

Trust can be built if a joint struggle is made for the supremacy of the constitution and the judiciary, he added.

Criticizing political parties, he said: “Why should we complain about the role of army in general elections when the role of political parties has been exposed. Their performance is before the people, who have lost confidence in them (political parties). We have to take our people into confidence through by our deeds.”

Under these circumstances, there was no other option but to launch a mass movement against undemocratic rulers. He expressed his disappointment that opposition parties had not reached a consensus so far.

Referring to bombing in the Bajaur Agency in the NWFP, Qazi said that US jets had bombed innocent citizens inside the territory of Pakistan, but the President had only said that there were some indications about foreigners in the area.

He said all those that died in the bombing were locals.

Quoting some local residents, he said four jet fighter planes showered bombs on Jan 13. About empty graves, he said such sort of graves could be found in every cemetery, which, however, did not indicate that any foreigner was buried there.

Pointing out at the body search of an official delegation at a US airport, Qazi Hussain said ministers were frisked at the airport, which was a disgrace of the nation. They had gone to represent the nation officially, but their body search gave the message that the Americans treated Pakistanis as second grade people and not an ally.

About education system, he said efforts were being made to remove Islamic teachings from the curricula on the pretext of hate literature, and the Aga Khan Education Board had been formed to serve the very purpose. He alleged that all this was being done at the behest of the US administration.

Similarly, he said pupils in religious seminaries were being deported to their countries and a ban was being imposed on foreigners getting religious education in seminaries in the country.

He asked if students could go to get education in European and American countries why were foreign students being barred from getting religious education inside the country.

Qazi praised the efforts of acting President PML-N, Makhdoom Jawed Hashmi, for his struggle for the cause of democracy. Mr Hashmi is in Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore, facing charges of treason.

He said it was a failure of the judicial system that Mr Hashmi was in prison.

The Deputy Parliamentary Leader of the MMA in the National Assembly, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, said: “We have to learn lessons from the past. Prevailing conditions are forcing political parties to form a joint opposition so that a struggle could be waged against the dictatorship.”

Criticizing bombing at Bajaur, Waziristan and Balochistan, he said matters should be taken up for discussion in assemblies to find a lasting political solution.

Hafiz Hussain lauded the efforts of Jawed Hashmi for the cause of democracy and suggested that opposition parties should stage a protest for his release in front of the parliament in Islamabad and offer court arrests.

Jan Mohammad Buledi, an opposition leader from the Balochistan Assembly, said the government wanted to conquer Balochistan and its natural resources. He said Baloch people were in favour of democracy and solidarity of the country but the steps being taken by the government posed a threat to the country’s integrity.

The army is doing what they did in East Pakistan and the outcome could be dangerous. He said it was a political issue and needed a political solution.

Senior Vice-President of PML-N Mushahidullah Khan, Saleem Zia, Mamnoon Hussain, Memoona Hashmi, PPP leader Nafees Siddiqui and others also spoke.