LAHORE, April 30: The Jamaat-i-Islami will hold a three-day grand assembly of some three million people in Lahore in October to monitor the developments expected to take place during the month and take decisions to meet the requirements of the situation.
The assembly was originally scheduled to be held at Qurtaba, a new city being set up near Chakwal, but a decision on shifting the venue has been taken by the central Shoora to enable the leadership to closely watch the unfolding scene, party sources say. The moot will be held from Oct 1 to 3.
The party thinks that October is the month when Gen Musharraf is expected to take off his military uniform and appoint his successor. This will also be the month when exiled leaders will take a decision on homecoming. The Shoora was of the view that exiled leaders should come back and face the pending cases, and the government should not victimize them.
The Shoora meeting was held under the chairmanship of Qazi Husain Ahmed, who has just started his 17th year as head of the party after being elected for a fifth term. Party sources say the Jamaat, as well as the MMA of which it is an important component, will be prepared to play any role to save the exiled leaders from any possible vengeful actions.
The JI proposed cooperation between religious and other parties, the ARD in particular, to clip the wings of the president and establish the supremacy of parliament. The meeting participants were of the opinion that the prime minister would also have to play a role to enhance the dignity of his office.
A resolution adopted by the participants said a cooperation between religious and other parties would also help avert the challenges facing the country. It has also been decided that the party would launch a mass-contact drive after a couple of weeks.
The Punjab and Sindh would be the major focus of the campaign, during which JI leaders would try to create awareness among the electorate about thorny problems and the modalities required to grapple with them.
The resolution expressed concern over the way the government set up the National Security Council, an institution alien to parliamentary democracies. It called for the disbandment of the NSC without delay.
The JI Shoora was furious over the government's failure to appoint leaders of opposition in the Senate and the National Assembly. While discussing the situation in Sindh, the participants noted that the Sindh chief minister had been rendered ineffective and the governor was calling the shots. They said the system could best be termed 'governor's rule'.
The resolution demanded that all civilian institutions be purged of the serving and retired military officers. It also called for accountability of the judiciary and the army.
It called for steps to make Pakistan an Islamic welfare state and eradication of the interest-based system. It demanded that Friday should be restored as weekly holiday.
It also sought maximum autonomy for provinces, a cut in non-development expenditure and an end to reliance on domestic and foreign loans. About the privatization process, the resolution said the parliament should be taken into confidence about whatever had been done so far.
It demanded a new education policy based on the Pakistan ideology and Islamic values. It said health care should be provided to all people and private hospitals be subjected to a code of conduct.
Nuclear capability be safeguarded at all costs and nuclear scientists under detention for the past several months should be released forthwith, the resolution said.