LAHORE, Feb 22: Tehrik-i-Istiqlal president Rehmat Khan Wardag warns that the movement presently being launched by the opposition is damaging for the country as well as the masses.

Speaking at a press conference here on Wednesday, he said religious and political parties were right to protest the blasphemous cartoons but putting on fire domestic and foreign properties was improper.

The situation, he said, had created problems for expatriates who were transacting $4 billion foreign exchange per annum.

Most of the expatriates were based in Europe and damaging foreign properties here could ignite European extremists to torch their assets in retaliation, he added.

Wardag was critical of the ruling PML whose failure, he said, in handling the cartoons issue had made Gen Musharraf a target of opposition parties.

“Had the PML leadership acted properly it could have cooled down the enraged masses.”

Supporting Gen Musharraf’s Water Vision 2016, the Tehrik chief said the army general should keep occupying the presidency up till 2017 so that water and other mega projects could be executed without any problem.