A senior leader of the six-party opposition Islamist alliance said yesterday they would launch a nationwide agitation if President General Pervez Musharraf does not quit as army chief within the four month deadline set by the party.
Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who heads the Jamaat-e-Islami and leads the Muttahida Majlis Amal (MMA) said in a wide-ranging interview that while the MMA is ready to accept Musharraf as president, he must relinquish his post as army chief by August 14 and allow his election through parliament as per the constitutional requirements.
Qazi spoke to Gulf News at a gathering of leading Pakistanis in Dubai during his brief stopover on his way from Iran to Pakistan. The luncheon was hosted by prominent community member Tanveer Khawaja at his residence.
Amanullah Larik, Pakistani Consul General, was also present. "General Musharraf should quit as army chief," the MMA leader said.
"We will continue to oppose the president in uniform as his position is unconstitutional and he has taken this position by force," Qazi stressed.
He said "because of the stubborn attitude of one person, Pakistan is presently facing a grave political crisis even after the elections because he is not ready at all to accept the election results.
"The massive success of MMA has come as a big surprise. He is not ready to accept it," he said of Musharraf.
The MMA's success in last year's elections has proved that people of Pakistan are happy with the coming together of religious groups, the Shias and Sunnis who were once bitterly opposed to one another. "I am sure that we will form the next government."
Qazi strongly opposed the formation of the National Security Council as mentioned in the LFO.
"We have to keep the army from indulging in politics as it has no role to play in running the country," he said, adding that the 'one man in uniform' has already damaged the constitution, as well as the political and judicial system of the country badly.
"It's time that he accepts the supremacy of the parliament and the constitution to end deadlock."
The MMA leader said Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali has "no powers" as he is heading "a puppet parliament because all the powers rest with the President".
Qazi also said the MMA has no desire to join the government.
On resuming dialogue with India, Qazi said: "We are not against dialogue but India has to prove it is sincere about talks. India must announce that Kashmir is disputed territory. There is no use holding talks if they continue to say Kashmir is an integral part of India."
Pakistan and Kashmiris will never accept the Line of Control (LoC) as permanent border, he said.
"The sacrifice of the Kashmiris will be of no avail if we agree to making the LoC a permanent border. How can we say the Pakistani government has sealed the Kashmir issue during the Tashkent and Shimla talks which is when the Ceasefire Line was changed to LoC. The issue was after all revived again by Kashmiris. They would never agree to this."
Qazi also dismissed as fiction the existence of an Al Qaida network. "The U.S. has coined this word to exploit Muslims in the world and continues to arrest people in the name Al Qaida. I don't know what is Al Qaida and who is heading it," he said.
Gulf News
