TAXILA, Sept 24: Senior Minister of NWFP Sirajul Haq on Saturday termed claims of the military authorities as baseless that a member of parliament of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal was involved in terrorist activities. Talking to newsmen at Wah he said that the federal government was using the madressah and educational qualification issues as a ploy to blackmail the MMA leadership.
Commenting on the statement of the outgoing Peshawar Corps Commander Lt-Gen Safdar Hussain alleging that MMA National Assembly member Maulana Nek Zaman was supporting terrorists in North Waziristan, Mr Haq said that the MMA leaders were in fact mediating between armed forces and tribal leaders and it was because of the these confidence building measures that the army personnel were freely moving in the tribal areas.
He asked the government to initiate talks with tribal elders, through elected representatives, to settle the North Waziristan imbroglio.
He said that to please the Western powers, specially the USA, the rulers have launched massive campaign against madressahs and religious leaders.
He said that the NWFP government would not close any religious school because they were serving the nation. He added that the NWFP government had distributed Rs30 million from Zakat funds among seminaries in the province.
The minister said the provincial government, during the last three years, had initiated several projects in health and education sectors.
He claimed that the provincial government had ended VIP culture. He said the government provided free education and books up to primary level and free education up to matric, upgraded 17 hospitals in the province and started giving free medical treatment to emergency patients in Peshawar. “This service will be extended to other hospitals in the province as well,” he said.
He said that the provincial government has introduced Islamic banking, established women medical university and started work on four dams.
He spurned the reports that cracks had emerged in the MMA government as well as leadership over the local body polls and seat adjustments made with other parties at local level.
He said that after the completion of the third phase of local polls, a meeting of the successful candidates would be convened to unite them on the MMA platform.
In response to a question he said that there was good working relationship between his office and the governor house.
The minister said the government had failed to fulfil its responsibilities by not implementing the 6th National Finance Commission award.
Man killed: A man was shot dead by his rivals over some petty dispute at Rehbar colony in the jurisdiction of the Taxila police station.
Police sources said that Tahir and Zahid had a dispute with Sheraz, resident of the same locality, but the notables of the area had resolved the matter by striking a compromise between them.
On Friday evening Tahir and Zahid came to the house of Sheraz and opened fire on him. He died on the spot. The accused managed to escape.
The police have registered a case against the accused. But no arrest was made till filing this report.
Car-lifter held: The Taxila police foiled a bid to hijack a vehicle and arrested a member of an inter-district gang of car-lifters.
Police sources said that two persons, identified as Niaz and Waris, booked a Suzuki van owned by Qaiser from Christian hospital for Hattar Industrial Estate.
When they reached near Hattar, Niaz pulled out his 30-bore pistol and deprived the driver of his vehicle. As he made hue and cry the nearby people informed the police who chased the culprits and arrested Niaz while his companion Waris managed to escape.
Police sources said that according to preliminary investigations both the culprits are members of an inter-district gang of car-lifters and involved in many car lifting incidents.