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RAWALPINDI, Aug 28: The chief of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani, has said the MMA would strive for the elimination of culture of injustice and tyranny, reducing unemployment, enforcing Shariat and ending lawlessness.
He was speaking at a public gathering here on Wednesday at the railway station before departing for Lahore at the start of the first phase of the Rawalpindi-Karachi train march.
Almost all the alliance leaders in their brief speeches during the 20-minute stay at the railway station urged the people to unite themselves against the disbelievers and support the alliance in the forthcoming elections.
Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed said the MMA was trying to introduce a culture of Islamic democracy in the country. “We intend to get the people united for the country’s future development and stability,” he said.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman, MMA Secretary-general, said the train march marks the start of the struggle against tyranny and injustice. Urging the people to support them in their struggle, he said: “We have been enslaved and its time to restore our sovereignty.”
He said all important airports of the country have been given under the US control. How can we say we are an independent nation, he asked.
Allama Sajid Ali Naqvi asked the government to lift restrictions on the parties to contact their electorate. He also called for giving a level-playing field to all the parties in the polls.
He criticized the hurdles created by the administration to stop people from attending their gatherings at the railway stations and warned that these hurdles would be swept away by the masses.
Maulana Samiul Haq termed the train march a big success and said it would help in uniting the masses against disbelievers. About the restrictions imposed on rallies and processions, he said they were unjust.
Later, talking to newsmen, SSP Moravat Shah said a report was being filed with the Election Commission and the government regarding the violation of the code of conduct for the elections.
He said Section 144, that bars holding of public gatherings, was not in force in the city, but the train march constitutes violation of the code of conduct issued by the Election Commission and the matter would be reported.
ARRIVAL at LAHORE: Leaders of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal were received by the workers of the alliance’s components parties when they alighted from Awam Express at the Lahore railway station at the end of the first phase of their train march here on Wednesday, adds Amjad Mahmood.
Speaking to workers, alliance chief Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani said the next phase of the train march (Lahore-Multan-Karachi) had been postponed because of the engagement of some leaders in the scrutiny of their nomination papers and a new schedule in this regard would be announced in a couple of days.
All the speakers urged the people to vote for the religious parties, united under one flag for the first time in the history of the country, to solve their problems and save the country from further US influence.
Alliance for Restoration of Democracy President Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan also made his appearance there for a while and congratulated the leaders and workers of the MMA for, what he said, a successful train march.
He assured them that pro-Islam and pro-democracy people would support the religious parties in the October polls.
Maulana Noorani promised that the MMA would make sincere efforts to solve the problems of price-hike, unemployment and unjust taxation, besides checking the influence of US forces in the country.
Vice-president Qazi Hussain Ahmad said the country needed an Islamic government to impose a system based on justice and equity that could patronise orphans and the destitute.
Secretary-General Maulana Fazlur Rahman said for the first time a leadership with an ideology had joined hands on one platform. He said when politicians were engaged in buttering up the US authorities and army had failed to deliver, the religious forces with the help of the masses checked the increasing influence of Washington.
He feared that the country would lose its sovereignty as the FBI had taken control of the administration and police in tribal areas and in Karachi.
Maulana Samiul Haq said all forces inimical to Islam had joined their forces against the Ummat and after the fall of Islamic government in Kabul, they were targeting nuclear Pakistan.
He appealed to the people not to divide themselves into the groups of the PPP and the PML and instead be united against the forces that wanted to convert Pakistan into a secular state.
Allama Sajid Naqvi said our identity was Islam, Quran and Pakistan and the masses must shun their enmity, hatred and petty religious differences to keep intact this identity.
He said the MMA had given a clear and comprehensive programme to redress people’s grievances and now the masses should practically support the alliance instead of just appreciating it.
