LAHORE, Oct 9: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal has announced that in the first 100 days after coming into power it will create 500,000 new jobs, withdraw general sales tax on edible oil and ensure free education for all up to secondary level.

Six-party religious alliance president Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani, secretary-general Maulana Fazlur Rahman, four vice-presidents in a joint statement said the MMA would initiate a crash programme for the provision of employment to 500,000 people.

Under the programme, make-shift fibre kiosks would be set up along main roads for 200,000 jobless people while special evening bazaars would be organized in cities for 250,000 more unemployed people. At least, 50,000 jobless graduates would be given a six-month military training against a reasonable honorarium.

The MMA, they said, would also arrange interest-free loans for the construction of 100,000 low-cost houses for the poor, besides establishing cottage industries zones in each city.

Under a population welfare project, the MMA government would ensure provision of cheap drugs for cancer, kidney and heart diseases while elderly citizens would be given old age allowance, they said.

Foreign missions would be given special targets to increase exports and take advantage of job opportunities abroad, they added.

PROTEST CALL: The six-party Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal has appealed to the nation to hold peaceful demonstrations after Friday prayers to protest against blasphemous remarks of a US author.

If the disbelievers did not stop blaspheming against the Prophet (Peace be Upon Him), the Muslim Ummah could not guarantee peace in the world, it said.

The MMA central leadership demanded in a joint statement on Wednesday that the author should be tried on terrorism charges for trying to disrupt the world peace by making blasphemous remarks and hurting the feelings of one-fourth of the world population.

The alliance urged upon religious scholars to highlight various aspects of the life of the Holy Prophet and inform the masses of the importance of Namoos-i-Risalat (sanctity of prophethood).

They said the West had launched a venomous campaign against Islam, its emblems and Prophets after failing to declare the Muslims “terrorists” as a whole.

They regretted that the recent attack on the honour of Holy Prophet had been made by a clergyman of the United States — which was a so-called champion of religious tolerance and was waging a so-called war on religious extremism.

It seemed that the Jewish lobby was intentionally trying to ruin the world peace, they said.

They urged the nation to tell the West that Muslims were ready to lay their lives for the honour of Holy Prophet.