LAHORE, Dec 28: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s parliamentary leader and Jamaat-i-Islami amir Qazi Husain Ahmad wants Gen Pervez Musharraf to take up large-scale arrests of the Pakistanis in the United States with Washington.
Speaking at a press conference here on Saturday, he said Gen Musharraf should lodge a protest with the Bush administration.
So far 800 Pakistanis had been arrested in the US, with none of them facing any criminal charge.
Qazi said as Gen Musharraf was in good books of the US, for Pakistan being the “frontline state” in global war on terrorism, he should take advantage of these relations to get relief for the detained Pakistanis.
He asked the Foreign Office to issue a statement in this regard as the Pakistan ambassador in the US could not so far take steps that could satisfy 800,000 Pakistanis living there.
The MMA parliamentary leader said the six-party religious alliance would also raise the issue on the floor of the House.
Answering a question about support to Zafarullah Jamali during Monday’s trust vote, the MMA leader said that the alliance did want to see Jamali as a powerful premier. “However, voting for him right now will be like voting for Gen Musharraf.”
He said the government would strengthen when — Gen Musharraf resigned as the army chief, the Constitution was fully restored, floor-crossing was banned, Senate elections were held and judges took oath afresh under the Constitution.
About differences among the MMA Constituents, the Jamaat amir said there was no such difference that could not be solved. He said contrary to the agreed formula the Jamaat had not been given a ministry in the NWFP. But JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman had assured him that the issue would be solved soon.
Asked why the Jamaat and the JUI-F had put up candidates against each other in the NWFP, he said this matter too had been solved as the Jamaat and the JUI-F nominees had withdrawn their candidatures from the seats vacated by Aftab Sherpao and he (Qazi) himself, respectively. About the opposition leader in the National Assembly, he said the issue would also be solved. “The MMA and the PPP have unanimous views on the restoration of constitution, repealing of the LFO and other such points. However, (PPP chairperson) Benazir Bhutto sometimes issues a statement that her party cannot go with the MMA that causes problem.”
He, however, made it clear that he had no intention of becoming the opposition leader.
Replying to a question about FBI’s raids in Lahore, he said the United States would have to face a sharp public reaction over the issue in the country and it would have to end this practice.
He told a questioner that he doubted that even Gen Musharraf was taken into confidence by the FBI before conducting any raid.