LAHORE, Dec 21: Maintaining that the unilateral ceasefire and a U-turn on Kashmir policy did not enjoy support of the nation, the PML-N said on Sunday that it would ask the ARD to hold peaceful protests during the days the SAARC summit was scheduled to be held.

Punjab PML-N secretary-general Khwaja Saad Rafiq, accompanied by vice-president Binyamin Rizvi and information secretary Zaeem Qadri, strongly criticized what he called the pro-Indian policies being pursued by Gen Pervez Musharraf and said that opposition would ask the electorate to resist them.

Mr Rafiq assailed the MMA for being flexible on constitutional matters after initially offering stiff resistance, and said it was like breaking fast prematurely.

He said the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy would still strive to maintain cooperation with the religious alliance on minimum points.

The Muslim League leader asked President Gen Pervez Musharraf how could he change Pakistan’s principled and consistent stand on Kashmir without approval from parliament and cabinet.

About implications of the ceasefire, he said the step amounted to a stab in the back for the freedom movement in occupied Kashmir. Now, he said, India was using its arms to silence the freedom movement and strengthen its position at Siachen. Pakistan, he claimed, had got no advantage as a result of the general’s initiative.

In response to a question, he said the PML-N and the Pakistan People’s Party had identical views on the movement against dictatorship, but they had different stands on other issues, including ties with India.

When it was pointed out that since the ceasefire and the change in Kashmir policy had been decided by the military leadership there must be some logic behind the two steps, the PML-N leader alleged that only oligarchs were taking all decisions.