KARACHI, July 30: The Muttahidda Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) reiterating its stand here on Tuesday rejected the proposed constitutional package of the government, including formation of a national security council, and said the government policies were aimed at eliminating the Islamic identity of Pakistan and handing over the command of democracy to the armed forces on the pattern of Turkey.

“In the history of Pakistan it is for the first time that religious parties have formed an electoral alliance which will turn out to be a harbinger of Islamic revolution in the country.”

This was the consensus of the central leaders of the MMA, an alliance of six main religious parties, who were addressing a ulema, mashaikh and workers’ convention. The convention was scheduled to be held at Arambagh ground, but after refusal by the administration to grant permission at the eleventh hour, the gathering was held within the premises of the nearby Jamia Masjid.

The convention was presided over by MMA president Allama Shah Ahmad Noorani and was addressed by secretary-general Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, Maulana Sami-ul-Haque, Syed Munawwar Hasan, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed and Liaquat Baloch.

Maulana Noorani in his presidential speech condemned the administration for its refusal of permission to hold the convention at the Arambagh ground as, he added, it has been the practice of the past administrations to curb the voice of people through repressive measures.

“The agents of the IMF and the World Bank sitting in Islamabad have been formulating policies which have turned the nation into a US slave. The US has taken over the control of our airports.

“Pakistan, which is a fort of Islam, has developed cracks endangering its independence. It is high time for the nation to unite under the banner of the MMA as only religious forces and soldiers of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) could prove an stumbling block in way of the US, Britain and all the anti- Islam forces,” Maulana Noorani said.

Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman said mosques had remained the focal point of Islamic politics. Our elders had fought the war of freedom against the East India Company and we have to wage a concerted struggle to get independence from the US slavery.

“Religious parties are not extremists but the government has been pursuing an extremist policy against them,” he added.

Maulana Samiul Haq feared that results of the October elections will be engineered as had been practised in the past due to dictates from Washington. He said now it has become even more easy for the US to manipulate things as, according to him, every thing in the country has gone in direct control of the Americans.

Referring to the refusal of permission for holding the convention in the adjacent ground, he announced that now onwards every mosque in the country would play the role of the Arambagh Jamia Mosque as in Islam religion and politics cannot be separated.

Syed Munawwar Hasan said people could only get justice if Islamic system was enforced in the country for which religious parties had been striving.

He said religious parties had been waging struggle for enforcement of Islamic system within the parameters of the constitution and would not provide an opportunity to Gen Musharraf to run away from elections.

Hafiz Hussain Ahmad said all the four governor houses had become centres of electioneering for the favourites of the government.