ISLAMABAD, Oct 26: The Pakistan Muslim League, Nawaz Group (PML-N) workers will come out on the streets after November 1 on the call of Afghanistan Defence Council (ADC) to oust the government, PML Vice President Zafar Ali Shah said on Friday.
Talking to Dawn during a demonstration staged by the ADC at Aabpara Chowk after Friday prayers, Mr Shah said all major political parties including PML(N) and Jamaat-i-Islami had joined hands with religious groups to strive for the government’s removal.
The demonstration is stated to be the biggest among those staged so far by the ADC in Islamabad since September 11. Thousands of activists of religious groups and Jihadi outfits participated in the demonstration.
“We have given a deadline of November 1 to President Musharraf to resign or withdraw support to the US in its war against Afghanistan till that date, or else we will jam the entire government machinery”, Mr Shah said.
He said people had shown ‘no confidence’ on the government, which could be seen from their participation in the rally.
It has unanimously been decided by religious groups and political parties that people would be asked not to pay utility bills after November 1 if the government did not withdraw its support to the US.
Responding to a query, he condemned the handing over of five airbases to the US-led coalition forces.
“Today, the US is trying to get Mianwali airbase, and tomorrow it will demand Islamabad”, he feared.
Mr Shah also criticized the closure of Pak-Afghan border. He said as a result, the displaced and injured Afghans could not enter Pakistan. He said a PML(N) working committee meeting would be held on October 31 to chalk out a strategy for ousting the government.
The former MNA condemned an amendment in the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), saying the provision of summary trial against madrassahs and activists of religious groups in the amended act had unveiled the intentions of the government.
Speaking on the occasion, an ADC leader, Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi, told Dawn that after November 1, they would block all highways of the country.
“It is very easy for our activists in the Northern Areas to block highways by dropping rocks from mountains”, he said.
He said all mosques would be turned into bunkers after November 1 and the campaign to oust President Musharraf’s government expedited.
Other leaders who spoke on the occasion were Raja Nargis Jamal Kiani, Nazir Farooqi, Maulana Mufti Salahuddin, Maulana Alvi, Qari Saeedur Rehman, Sabir Ahmed Chishti, Mualana Shabir Ahmed Kashmiri, Maulana Shamsul Haq, Asif Naqshbandi, Maulana Abdul Karim, Maulana Abdul Khaliq, Gul Andaz Abbasi and Maulana Ghafoor Tauhidi.