KARACHI, April 22: Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Altaf Hussain has appealed to PML president Chaudhry Shujaat and Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi to support the rally his party planned to hold in Lahore in protest against extremism.

In the appeal issued from London and released in Karachi on Sunday, he said that at a time when Pakistan was passing through a critical phase, religious extremism and ‘Kalashnikov sharia’ were presenting a distorted image of the country in the world.

The situation, he said, required all moderate, democratic and liberal forces to act jointly and present a soft image of Pakistan which was in keeping with the aspirations of the vast majority of the people of the country.

He appealed to Chaudhry Shujaat and Chaudhry Pervaiz and to the people of Punjab to come out in defence of their noble religion, join the rally in large numbers and make it a success.

In a separate statement, he paid tribute to poet-philosopher Allama Iqbal and described him as a moderate and liberal intellectual who was opposed to religious extremism and mullahism.—PPI