Politicians give mixed response to speech
Dawn Report
LAHORE, Jan 12: President Gen Pervez Musharraf's televized address to the nation on Saturday in which he announced several steps to curb religious extremism and militancy and also to prevent use of Pakistani territory for military adventurism in other parts of the world drew a mixed reaction from politicians and religious groups and organizations.
ARD: Alliance for Restoration of Democracy president Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan said the speech had put paid to the public expectations of lifting of a ban on political activities in the country and the release of political and religious leaders for mobilizing the nation against the Indian designs. He said it was expected that the president would invite the exiled leaders to return to the country to have a national consensus.
He said the presidential speech would fail to ease the existing tensions between India and Pakistan. He said there was little likelihood of withdrawal of forces from borders by the Indian government even after the speech.
He criticized the decision to make it conditional to obtain an NOC from the government to build a mosque or seminary in the country. He said the people would not accept such decision in the fortress of Islam.
PML-QUAID-I-AZAM:PML-QA president Mian Azhar said the president had given words to the thoughts of every Pakistani. In his comments on the presidential address, he said now India must stop waging a negative propaganda against Pakistan and agree to sit across the table for the settlement of the Kashmir dispute with Pakistan in the light of the wishes of the people of Kashmiris. He said every Pakistani stood solidly behind the government to counter any threat to the integrity and security of their country.
He urged the people to work harder to banish poverty, illiteracy, violence and backwardness from society. He said all differences needed to be solved in a democratic way.
Speaking about the measures announced by the president to curb sectarian violence and hatred, he said the freedom of mosques should be respected but these must not be allowed to be used to spread hatred in society. These places need to be used to promote love, peace and harmony amongst the people.
PML-QA secretary information Abida Husain congratulated the president on having taken the much needed and courageous decision to ban the SSP and the TJP. She said ever since these organizations had come into existence, sectarianism had overtaken normal politics in large segments of the country. She said the people who were barely educated claimed to be maulanas and preached hatred and discord among Pakistanis and Muslims.
She stated the banning of these organizations would pave the way for Pakistan to enjoy a healthy and productive relationship with Afghanistan and Iran. She said Pakistan's proximity to Iran and Afghanistan would enable it to effectively resist being bullied by India. Abida said the president's decision would be well-received by all rational and reasonable Indians. She said Pakistan seeking to modernize could only seek normal relations with India based on mutuality of interest and respect.
She said the decisions announced by the president were long overdue. She said it was regrettable that prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif did not have the courage to do earlier what has been done now which would have spared the lives of thousands of people and also not damaged the economy. The decision could also have been taken earlier by the Musharraf government. But the fact that it has been taken is to be lauded, she added.
LPP: The Labour Party Pakistan feels that the steps announced by the president to curb religious extremism are superficial and no thought has been given to root out causes or spread of fanaticism. Much is still needed to weed out religious extremism.
In a statement, the LPP said poverty and illiteracy were the root cause of religious extremism in society. It said the IMF and the World Bank had played an important role in keeping Pakistan poor and illiterate and the Musharraf government should stop implementing their policies and dictates. It said the separate electorate were another factor that had played a crucial role in the spread of religious intolerance in society. It also called for putting an end to the role of the ISI in the domestic politics.
The LPP, however, hailed the decision to ban sectarian organizations, demanding that religious parties should also be stopped from taking part in elections and politics.
It urged the governments of India and Pakistan to recall their forces from the borders to ease tension and settle the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the wishes of the people of Kashmir. It said the future of people of South Asia depended on peace in the region and not war.
AQP:Former COAS Mirza Aslam Beg's Awami Qiyadat Party termed the presidential address "balanced" in the given circumstances when Pakistan was under immense pressure from both the US and India.
The AQP was happy to note that President Gen Pervez Musharraf had not taken a "U-turn" on Kashmir as was being feared by many and had urged the international community to put pressure on India to settle the dispute through peaceful dialogue in accordance with the wishes of the people of Kashmir under the UN resolutions.
The AQP hailed the measures announced by the president to streamline operations and working of religious seminaries, saying these steps were overdue and should have been taken a long time back.
It also praised the president's refusal to hand over any Pakistani to India as demanded by the latter after a so-called terror attack on its parliament in December.
JI: The Jamaat-i-Islami on Saturday termed President Musharraf's speech "an attempt to please the west and divert the nation's attention from real issues like price-hike, corruption, unemployment and absence of democracy."
In a press statement, Syed Munawwar Hassan, caretaker amir of the JI, said that the president had skipped the tangible issues facing the nation and agenda fixed by him. "He has not uttered a word about elections," he said. The lawlessness that consumed most of his speech was a gift of army generals who usurped power. The general himself had supported the Jihadi organizations on more than one occasions. But now he had dumped them on the instructions of the US. If the government had any proof against them, it should have gone to courts and presented the case there. The president, he said, had questioned the authority of politicians without explaining under what authority he had become president.
PTI: The Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf said on Saturday that president's speech had put Indian leadership on the defensive by announcing concrete steps against terrorism. The president of the party in a press statement said that India would now find no justification for an attack on Pakistan. The president was categorical in support of the Kashmir cause and telling India that misadventure would cost it dearly. The world community can only appreciate the speech and it will build the country's image, he said.
DR ISRAR: Tanzeem-i-Islami amir Dr Israr Ahmed said that the speech was a step in the right direction but as hinted by the president himself the real issue was implementation of the good intentions.
Dr Israr Ahmad said the Indian army would go back to its earlier only if India termed these steps sufficient. The president might say that all this had been done in the national interest, but the world would think that these step were taken under the India-US pressure.
ANP: The Awami National Party welcomed the president's speech and termed it a good omen.
The speech would go a long in resolving the Kashmir cause by putting the focus back on a political solution to the problem. By banning the Jihadi organizations, the president had taken the first step to pull the country out of extremism and sectarian frenzy, it said. The bans would also bring in internal stability and social cohesion in the country.
NOORANI: JUP President and United Front chairman Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani said there should no two opinions on the issue of the elimination of terrorism in the country.
He said the president's response to India's war threat had raised the morale of the nation. His presentation of Pakistan's stand on the Kashmir issue was also the reflection of the aspirations of the nation, he said.
Maulana Noorani said the US and Britain would never try to get the Kashmir dispute resolved as they themselves had created it. Pakistan would have to get it resolved by itself.
He said the restriction on speeches in mosques was a wrong decision taken in view of the wrong reports by agencies. No-one was delivering speeches in mosques that could fan sectarianism and similarly there was no sectarianism in Pakistan as was the case in Ireland.
Mosques had been the target of terrorism and it was the responsibility of the government to nab the terrorists, Maulana Noorani said. He welcomed the announcement to regulate religious seminaries and said the government must also arrange for religious teaching in schools and colleges.
Maulana Noorani said all religious parties had in the past tried their best to eliminate sectarianism and that was why they had created the Milli Yakjehti Council. But, the past governments always supported terrorism, he alleged.
Sarfraz Naeemi: Tanzimul Madaris Pakistan Nazim Dr Sarfraz Naeemi said a soft method had been adopted to interfere in the religious seminaries. This would lead to the degeneration of the seminaries with the expected intervention of bureaucracy into their affairs, he said.
He said it was not correct to ask the already registered seminaries to get fresh registration. The real picture regarding the regulation of the seminaries would be known after the promulgation of the ordinance but the style of the president was punctuated with dominance, he said.
Dr Naeemi said the president praised the role of foreign NGOs and the UN in providing relief to the Afghan people but he ignored their role in destroying Afghanistan. He welcomed the decision to ban sectarian parties and said this should be implemented in letter and spirit. There should not be a ban on Juma sermons, he said.
Dr Tahirul Qadri: Pakistan Awami Tehrik Chairman Dr Tahirul Qadri welcomed the speech by the president and said he had taken all steps which were necessary to rid the country of extremism, to promote the Kashmir cause and to satisfy the international community.The ball was now in the court of the international community and if it respected Pakistan's sincerity and put pressure on India for a meaningful dialogue on Kashmir issue, it would lead to the beginning of a new era of peace and prosperity in the region, he said.
Dr Qadri said if the unilateral pressure on Pakistan continued, a nuclear war would be the fate of the region. President Pervez Musharraf was trying to avoid the war as a messenger of peace and if he was not allowed to succeed the international community must remember that some body intending to wage an atomic war would replace him.
Omer Asghar Khan: Qaumi Jamhoori Party National Organizer Omer Asghar Khan fully endorsed the speech by the president and said it laid the foundation of an exemplary society where there would be no violence.
He supported what he said the extension of a hand of offensive to India by the president with an offer to move forward for the negotiated resolution of all differences between the two countries.
"We also support his invitation to the international community to intervene and de-escalate the situation in the region besides playing its role in the resolution of the Kashmir dispute," Mr Khan said.
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