BAHAWALPUR, Sept 22: MNA Maulana Abdul Malik from Mansehra (NWFP) and MMA deputy parliamentary leader in the Punjab Assembly Dr Syed Wasim Akhtar have said the MMA was ready to launch a movement against the government which has failed to resolve the LFO and president’s uniform issues.
Addressing a joint press conference here on Monday, they said the MMA would never accept a military ruler and was sticking to its earlier stance on the removal of uniform by the president.
Maulana Malik said only the uniform was the bone of contention between the MMA and the government.
He said the MMA supreme council was meeting on Tuesday to decide future course of action after suspension of dialogues between the MMA and the government as the latter failed to give a timetable for the removal of uniform by the president.
He said the MMA could not compromise on the LFO. The package given to the MMA by the government did not include any clause on the supremacy of parliament.
He told a questioner that the NWFP government of chief minister Akram Durrani was only introducing Islamic shariat in accordance with the recommendations of the Council of Islamic Ideology.
TAKES OATH: Malik Zahid Channar, the newly-elected Naib Nazim of Bahawalpur tehsil, at a ceremony held at the TMA office, took oath of his office on Monday.
Returning officer Razaq Nawaz administered oath to Mr Channar.
Later, Mr Channar pledged to discharge his duties honestly. He promised that he would try his best to provide civic amenities to the residents of Bahawalpur city.
Mr Channar had defeated ARD’s Sahibzada Munawar Hayat Abbasi by 232 votes in the Sept 8 elections. The seat fell vacant after the resignation of Syed Abdul Mueed Bokhari who contested Oct 10 election on a PML-N ticket for the Punjab Assembly but lost.
opposed: The general public and journalists have protested against PTCL’s decision to shift its telegraph office and the PCO from Library Chowk to Seraiki Chowk.
A large number of people and correspondents of Bahawalpur-based English and Urdu dailies have faxed messages to the federal minister for information technology, Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, in Islamabad, the PTCL chairman and CEO Akhtar Ahmed Bajwa and the general manager (telegraph) for the Multan region to draw their attention towards the shifting of local telegraph office to a place which, they claimed, was neither economically viable for the PTCL nor accessible to a majority of city’s population.
In their messages, journalists have pointed out that the site proposed for the telegraph office was located near Abbasia Cinema while the city was spread on the eastern side and in thickly-populated areas around Farid Gate. They informed the authorities that the best location of telegraph office would be a commercial centre at the Farid Gate, whose owner was negotiating the rent with PTCL officials when the latter broke the dialogue.
PTCL consumers, including those desirous of sending their faxes outstation, were already utilizing PTCL services at Library Chowk, which could easily be shifted to a place near Farid Gate.
These consumers, including a large number of students, people visiting courts and offices and the general public around Farid Gate, alleged in the faxes that local PTCL officials were interested in shifting the telegraph office to Seraiki Chowk due to their personal contacts with the new landlord.