PESHAWAR, April 11: Senior Minister Sirajul Haq has warned that marathon race will not be allowed in the NWFP and those trying to take part in it will be thrown into the River Kabul. He said that the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) government would check every effort to spread obscenity in the province, an official handout quoted him as saying here on Monday. However, a spokesman for the senior minister later clarified that Mr Siraj had merely said that those taking part in the marathon would be dealt with severely and that, too, by the people.

He was addressing a public meeting after distributing cheques among flood-stricken people at Pubbi in the Nowshera district on Monday.

Provincial minister for food Fazle Rabbani and other MMA leaders also spoke on the occasion.

A total of 180 cheques amounting to Rs7 lakh were distributed among the affected people — Rs5,000 each to those whose homes had been destroyed and Rs2,500 to those who suffered a wall collapse.

The senior minister said that the MMA government was making efforts to provide all possible relief to the victims of winter rainfall despite having meagre resources at its disposal.

He regretted that the federal government was taking no interest in providing relief to the rain-hit people except raising hollow slogans.

He said recent wave of price hike, including increase in petroleum products’ rates, had created unrest among the masses. They had resorted to agitation due to the wrong policies of the centre, the handout quoted him as saying.

He said that President Musharraf’s policy of enlightened moderation was creating evils in society and posing a direct challenge to religious values and Islamic culture.

He said that giving women the right of Azan and the right to lead congregational prayers, as had been done in America, were in fact anti-Islamic acts.

He said that the MMA will not allow such acts in the country.

Earlier, he visited the under-construction building of the Girls Degree College Pabbi along with Mr Rabbani and other MMA leaders. The ministers were told that work on the building was started on June 15, 2004, and would be completed by September 30, 2006 with an estimated cost of Rs377 million.

The senior minister directed the authorities to complete work on the college building on time so that girl students of the area could get its benefit. He warned that the government would not compromise on quality of work.