MUZAFFARABAD, March 4: The AJK cabinet meeting was deferred by Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan on Thursday for a day reportedly under the instructions of the powers that matter in an attempt to resolve the polarization within the Muslim Conference.

The meeting was scheduled for Thursday and the prime minister had warned that those staying away would be sacked. Shortly before the commencement of the meeting, AJK Chief Secretary Shahid Rafi conveyed a message to the prime minister, following which it was announced that the meeting had been deferred.

"I have deferred the cabinet meeting till Friday to provide an opportunity to the four (rebel) ministers to participate in it," the prime minister told newsmen at his office.

Finance Minister Shah Ghulam Qadir, Revenue Minister Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, Industries Minister Masood Khalid, Transport Minister Hafiz Hamid Raza, parliamentary secretary Mir Ali Akbar and Ulema and Mashaikh Council Chairman Syed Shaukat Shah had handed over their resignations to the Muslim Conference's supreme head Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan in protest against the prime minister's policies.

They reportedly accused the prime minister of nepotism, victimization of other communities, financial irregularities, ridiculing and undermining the authority of the ministers and running the government through some favourite bureaucrats.