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LAHORE, Jan 26: Politicians belonging to opposition on Friday condemned the bomb explosion outside a hotel in Islamabad and said the incident spoke high of the failure of intelligence agencies.
“The incident has nothing to do with sectarianism nor is the work of a local organisation but a third hand seems to be involved,” Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan chief Maulana Ans Noorani and general secretary Qari Zawwar Bahadur said in a press statement.
The JUP leaders said the explosion was the responsibility of a ‘third party’ which always shifted its blame on religious parties which had nothing to do with terrorism. But, the government had so far been unable to unearth the forces behind the ghastly incidents and was also yet to decide a direction in its ‘war on terror’, they said.
They said the MMA had always condemned terrorism as it believed in political process and resolution of conflicts through dialogue. It was seriously concerned with the onslaught of terrorism being faced by the country which the regime had so far failed to curb, they concluded.
PPP: While condemning the suicide bombing at the Marriot Hotel in Islamabad, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has lamented the Musharraf-led government for its continued failure to maintain the law and order in the country.
In a statement, PPP central secretary information Ms Sherry Rahman and Punjab PPP president Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the bombing in the high security zone of the federal capital had exposed reality of the lofty claims being made by the Musharraf regime with regard to its effectiveness as a major ally in the US-led war against terror.
She said the death toll would have been much higher had the suicide bomber been able to make his way into the hotel. She said the present regime seemed to be least pushed about the security of the general public as over 75 per cent of the security personnel in Islamabad were deputed to provide security to a bunch of VVIPS.
She said with the latest act of terrorism in Islamabad, it appeared that the federal capital was fast turning into a haven for the terrorists which had already compelled the government to arrange most of the important meetings between the foreign dignitaries and Gen Musharraf in Lahore instead of Islamabad.
Ms Sherry Rahman regretted that instead of making any concrete efforts to unearth the network involved in the Friday bombing, the authorities deemed it fit to baton-charge the media people and injured many of them which was condemnable. She demanded that those police officials who were responsible for the baton-charge should be suspended and compensation be given to the injured media people.
ROHAIL ASGHAR: Former MNA and PML-N leader Sheikh Rohail Asghar told a workers’ meeting here on Friday that the explosion in the federal capital was the result of the regime’s defective internal and external policies.
He said terrorism was increasing and explosions and suicidal attacks had become a routine affair. The country continued to be in the grip of terrorism despite the ‘war on terrorism’ because it was a miscalculated policy which was bringing a bad name to Pakistan and its people.
He said the rulers would have to review the policy and give national interest more importance than following foreign dictates, he added.
He said the all-party conference in London would prove a turning point in the country’s political history. He appealed to all ‘democracy-loving’ forces to attend the APC to give a new direction to the struggle for democracy.
GHULAM ABBAS: Punjab PPP secretary-general Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas said in a press statement that his party condemned the incident as a cowardly incident and wanted peace and tranquility in the country.
However, he said peace could be an illusion because the rulers were pursuing a foreign policy which was against the national interest.
He said the regime had endangered the national security and was still carrying on with the policy which had forfeited the country’s sovereignty. Only an honourable policy was required to tackle the critical situation as was adopted by the PPP while in government.
