JI to besiege Parliament if Nato supply restored
KARACHI - Lashing out at the PPP-led coalition government for toeing American agenda, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Ameer Syed Munawar Hassan has threatened to besieged the parliament on February 3, if the parliamentary committee on that day recommends reopening Nato supplies and retain a pro-American policy, while revisiting the foreign policy.
Speaking at Meet the Press Programme of Karachi Press Club on Tuesday, the articulate Chief of Jamaat said that his party had come to know through Western media that Nato supplies would be restored and the pro-American tilt in foreign policy would be retained.The JI would make every effort through democratic means to stop these two things from happening and declared that in this regard his party would block all the NATO supply routes and would besiege the parliament. He said that Jamaat had full confidence in the integrity of Senator Raza Rabbani, who has been tasked with make recommendations of behalf of the govt but as things were moving and information is filtering from various sources, the committee report is expected to restore the Nato supply and retain pro-American policies.
He said that he was casting doubt on the final outcome of the parliamentary committee report because in the past the government has not kept its promises on various issues and has ignored the unanimous resolutions passed in the parliament against drone attacks and a number of other issues.
Mr Hassan said that the government has failed to streamline and improved the domestic economic policies, law and order, energy crisis and corruption then how is it possible that it will take a decision in more complicated foreign policies. Ours is debt-ridden economy and the country is under severe financial strains because of the pressure of World Bank, IMF and other donor agencies.
This country has not been able to handle these economic pressures then how can it take on to rectify its foreign policy and make it independent and more pro-Pakistani.
He condemned and severely criticised the government for awarding MFN status to Indian. That decision, he alleged, has been taken without taking parliament into confidence or even by-passing the cabinet.
This has been done, he said, under the American dictation who wants to give India a dominating role in the region which is not acceptable to Pakistan.
The US is using trade as weapon against Pakistan and by forcing Pakistan to grant MFN status to India it would give the Easter neighbour an easy land access to Afghanistan. Thus India, he argued, would have a dominating role in Afghanistan.
He said that the recent revelation of the FC IG Balochistan that India by opening diplomatic missions in Afghanistan close to the borders of Pakistan was de-establishing situation in Balochistan and KPK.
He said that the situation in Balochistan is not conducive to national integration and politics and dismissed the recently announced Balochistan Package, which termed as eye-washing ignoring the ground realities in the largest province.
Balochistan is the most oppressive province in the country and to bring the people of that province into the mainstream and remove sense of deprivation among them, the government should take a pragmatic step which includes issue of missing persons which is the biggest throne in bringing normalcy. He disclosed that besides hundreds of men, 35 women are missing and there was no trace about these persons.
To a question of a vernacular media man that Sindh was more oppressed than Baloch, Munawwar Hassan told the questioner that largest number of prime ministers in last six decades came from Sindh into power and in 2008 elections the PPP got an overwhelming majority yet it invited MQM and ANP for power sharing. He said that the PPP could have easily run the government independently without the support of any party in Sindh.
He said that the MQM has committed so many crime that it could not live without power.
When asked for his comments on memo gate scandal and Mansoor Ejaz decision not to come to Pakistan because his life would be threatened, he said it was much ado about nothing. He alleged that the government has adopted tactics to intimidate Mansoor Ijaz. But in the modern age of technology and communication, his statement could be recorded through video conference or even the commission can travel to Geneva/ London to interview the main actor in the memogate episode.
He even did not spare army from criticism and said that the off-shoots of military operation in selected KPK areas were also contributing to the deteriorating situation in the country.
In response to a question on holding elections before time and setting up of interim government, he said that all political parties were of the consensus should be held earlier than scheduled, the government to save itself from getting bad name should itself announce holding of elections because such a move could also be democratic.
JI to besiege Parliament if Nato supply restored | The Nation