LAHORE, Nov 17: As a warm-up exercize for its drive against uniform, the MMA has directed its district units in Karachi, Multan, Lahore and Rawalpindi to hold at least 1,000 corner meetings in each district to mobilize people to attend its planned public meetings in the cities.

The six-party religious alliance has announced that it will hold one public meeting each in the four cities on Nov 28, Dec 5, 12 and 19, respectively, in the first phase of its anti-uniform drive.

Circulars to the four units as well as the surrounding districts have been issued to ensure maximum mobilization of masses, sources in the MMA revealed here on Wednesday.

The sources say that the government is unlikely to arrest MMA leaders before the Karachi meeting. However, it can create hurdles to check the participation of people in the meeting, they admit.

To cope with the situation, workers have been directed to stage sit-ins when and where they would be stopped by the state machinery, they add. MMA provincial president Hafiz Idrees told Dawn that like the 1977 anti-Bhutto movement the anti-Musharraf drive would also gain a momentum with the passage of time.

He also claimed the support of the trading community for the movement, saying several of its members had rather written them for "doing something against the government."

He said the traders were most fed up with the corruption of income tax authorities. Answering a question, he said though talks could never be ruled out in politics, the option was not under MMA consideration at this point.

Conditional talks could be held only after Gen Musharraf sheds his military dress, he added. Hafiz Idrees made it clear that the movement would not be stopped even after the appointment of new army chief if the new-comer followed the policies of Gen Musharraf.

Replying to a query, he said most of the recently retired army generals were against the continuation of army rule believing that backing out of promise by Gen Musharraf would damage the prestige of the office of COAS as well as the institution of army.

The MMA leader was sure that armymen would refuse to fire on their country-fellows if the government resorted to use of force against peaceful citizens in the movement.

Meanwhile, Jamaat-i-Islami office-bearers claim that after the appointment of Hafiz Salman Butt and Amirul Azeem as Lahore chapter's president and secretary-general of the party, respectively, the "indifference" of local activists has changed. "They are now enthusiastic enough to participate in the anti-Musharraf drive."