Politicians urge Qadri to avoid confrontation

LAHORE

LEADERS of mainstream political and nationalist parties from Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan have urged Dr Tahirul Qadri to avoid going for any move which may push the country towards further troubles.

Terming the long march call by Qadri highly uncalled-for at a time when no much time is left in the general elections, the leaders from different political and regional parties advised the Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran chairman to come up with a clear agenda and adopt a democratic path, rather than going for long march.

Moreover, some of the nationalists from Sindh also said that by having the support of a party like MQM which had been part of the ruling benches from 1999 till date, the slogan for change did not seem justified.

Former Punjab Governor and PPP central Latif Khan Khosa while talking to The News said there was not any problem if the things were done in accordance with constitution but a long march at this time seemed quite strange.

He said that first of all Tahirul Qadri needed to remove doubts from the mind of the public as to what his agenda was and what was he trying to achieve by going for a march on Islamabad. He said that if Tahirul Qadri had objection to the electoral process, there was a proper platform to remove his concerns and he must take up his case before the chief election commissioner of Pakistan or the judiciary over any legal issue. Khosa, also a legal hawk of the PPP, said Qadri must become part of the democratic process, get his party registered with Election Commission and field his candidates but the way he was going was not the proper way as he might be representing some part of the population, but not the 200 million people of Pakistan.

Latif Khosa, who held the office of Punjab governor for nearly two years, said that by creating problems for people by giving a long march call, Qadri was not serving the population but weakening the democracy.

Senator Haji Adeel, parliamentary leader of Awami National Party in the upper house of parliament, while talking to The News said that the stance of his party did not need any clarification now after the passage of resolution by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly a couple of days ago.

He said it was not fair to use religion for your political goals and Tahirul Qadri must adopt the democratic process and rely on public will. He said Tahirul Qadri had long been fond of doing politics and he must once again test his luck through elections, not through any such move which could lead to confrontation.

Senator Hasil Bazinjo, vice president of National Party Balochistan and a noted politician from the province, while talking to The News advised Dr Tahirul Qadri to avoid going for a long march at this moment when wrong moves could push the country towards chaos. “There is no option left for us but elections, as any other option may take us to an unknown drive”, said Bazinjo. Ayaz Palijo, senior leader of Awami Tehreek, a nationalist party of Sindh, while talking to The News said the slogan of accountability in Tahirul Qadri’s programme should be acceptable to every sincere Pakistani but he had differences over the way the religious scholar was following it.

He said, “First of all, if we wanted change, we had to put our own house in order but the movement of Dr Tahirul Qadri has been joined by a party which spent most of its time in power corridors and is still an ally of the government.”

He said how could one expect election reforms by joining hands with those who themselves rigged the elections.

Palijo said Awami Tehreek supported elections in time under a neutral care taker set-up.

Similarly, Rehmat Khan Wardag, president of Tehreek-e-Istaqlal, while talking to The News said that he endorsed the demands of Tahirul Qadri but had difference of opinion over the way he was adopting.

He said his main appeal to Dr Tahirul Qadri was to avoid going for a path which could become violent and erupt tension among political workers. He also said that the continuation of democratic system was vital and any such move, which could cause damage to democracy should be avoided as situation of the country was critical.

Posted in: Lahore