ISLAMABAD, Sept 3: Political workers of the twin cities representing a number of pro-democracy parties Monday formed ‘Jamhoori Forum’, pledging to work together for a permanent end to the military’s role in politics regardless of their party affiliations.
Among the founding members of the forum are Qazi Sultan Mahmood and Sardar Saleem of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Malik Shujaa of the Pakistan Muslim League, Nawaz Group (PML-N), Arif Azhar of the Awami National Party (ANP), Chaudhry Akram of the Inqilabi Jamhoori Workers Committee, Zahoor Khan of the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party, Jamil Abbasi of Tehrik-i-Insaf, Engineer Jamil Malik of the Communist Party, Hussain Khan of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Qazi Naeem Qureshi of the Pakistan Mazdoor Mahaz and various members of the People’s Rights Movement who had organised the initative.
Under the charter approved at the meeting, the Jamhoori Forum will struggle for the immediate end to military intervention in politics in any form, revival of the land reform agenda including land immorally acquired by the military.
The participants of the meeting called for democracy within mainstream parties and decided to boycott the political forces that support military rule in any manner.
They announced to participate in the lawyer’s movement beginning from September 6 for the removal of Musharraf and bringing army’s role in politics to end.
The forum also decided to hold regular demonstrations against military operations in Balochistan, Waziristan and other parts of the country.
Speaking on the occasion Aasim Sajjad of PRM said that there was a clear line in Pakistan between those who want to see the reversal of the military-dominated political system and those who were willing to prop it up for petty gains.
He said that the Jamhoori Foum will condemn all those political forces that offer support to the military in any way, and the mainstream parties should be wary of making unprincipled commitments as they already face a trust deficit amongst working people.
Aasim Sajjad also said that the Jamhoori Forum would take the responsibility of reinvigorating ordinary people’s belief in politics as a means of propagating change which had been eroded by the military’s political role and the demeaning of politics and politicians.
He also said that the Forum was completely opposed to any support to the imperial objectives of the United States and in particular to the brutalisation of the Pakhtun border areas that was a direct outcome of the military’s support to America’s war on terror.
Speaking on the occasion Sardar Saleem of the PPP said that the military and the traditional landed class that still dominated political parties had always been allies and continue to be so even today.