PML-N to march with Fazl if date delayed

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Monday said dates of the proposed Azadi March should be deferred till November. The PML-N demanded fresh general elections and decided to participate in JUI-F sponsored sit-in in the federal capital.

A meeting of the PML-N Central Working Committee (CWC) chaired by the party president Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif here, decided in principle to participate in the sit-in. However, the CEC of the PML-N observed that dates for the Azadi March should be extended till the month of November.

Talking to newsmen after the meeting, the PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal said the deteriorating condition of the national economy would reach point of no return if the incumbent government is given another year in power.

“The PML-N will play a leading role in anti-government movement,” Ahsan Iqbal while inviting other opposition parties to join the struggle said. The PML-N leader maintained that the only way now left to bring the country out of the crisis was to hold fresh and impartial general elections in the country.

Ahsan Iqbal said the CEC has also requested the JUI-F chief Maulana Fazalur Rehman to call an All Parties Conference (APC) to hold consultations on the sit-in. He said the announcement regarding the sit-in would be made jointly.

The PML-N meeting also demanded of the PTI government to give an in-camera briefing to the parliament on the Kashmir issue, steps taken so far in this connection and plan of action. The meeting also asked the government to brief the parliament on the agreement reached with the IMF so that the political leadership could be apprised of the crisis being faced by the economy. The meeting also demanded of the government to ensure all legal rights to the prisoners of democracy.

The PML-N leaders, while condemning restrictions being imposed on media, demanded immediate withdrawal of decision regarding establishment of media tribunals and stop closing programmes of senior journalists on electronic media.

The PML-N meeting also passed 15 resolutions condemning violation of human rights, democratic, political and legal rights of the people of the Indian Occupied Kashmir. “The PML being the founding party of Pakistan will continue to play its role for due rights of the Kashmiris,” the resolution on top of the declaration said adding that geographically, religiously and ideologically Kashmir is part and parcel of Pakistan.

The resolution mentioned that the party of Quaid Nawaz Sharif had already advocated the Kashmir case strongly at the international level. The resolution also demanded of the prime minister and his government to tell the nation as to why no resolution could be moved or passed at the recent United Nations meeting and explain prime minister’s statement in which he said that it was the Pakistan Army, which trained al-Qaeda. “This admission by the prime minister is not only historically and factually wrong but also amounts to accepting narrative of the Indian Prime Minister Modi,” the resolution said.

The meeting observed that the government’s inaction has become a threat to the Kashmir cause demanding of the rulers to chalk out a short-term and long-term strategy with regard to the vital issue instead of confining to speeches and statements.

Expressing concerns over acts of terrorism, the PML-N meeting observed that the government has been failing in implementation of the National Action Plan and other plans to ensure internal security. Another resolution expressed concerns over the situation of economy. “The national economy has been totally devastated under the leadership of Imran Niazi with increasing burden of loans and inflation,” the resolution said adding the economic policies have also become a threat to the national security.

The resolution said the internal and external investment has come to a stop whereas the business community is also not ready to trust in the government.

Meanwhile, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Monday ruled out any deal with the government. “We do not believe in deal but curse it. Whatever pressure the government exerts, the PPP will not compromise on its principle,” he said while talking with the media outside the Adiala Jail on Monday after meeting his father former president Asif Ali Zardari.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the present judicial system is like Musharraf regime’s as such treatment was meted out to the former president who is in jail without any conviction. “The courts had declared the martyrdom of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as a judicial murder but he could not get justice yet. We have struggled against the dictators and now we are struggling against the puppets,” he said.

He said former president Asif Ali Zardari was in jail without any conviction or fair trial. He said that it was not a new thing for him as he had faced jail for 11 years and acquitted from the court of all charges. “Regrettably, still the system in the country is similar to Musharraf regime as the political opponents could be arrested merely on the basis of allegation,” he said.

In reply to a question with regard to Azadi March of Maulana Fazl Rehman, the PPP chairman said the PPP has different point of view but they could find a middle way. “We are in contact with other political parties and will meet Maulana Fazlur Rehman and other parties. The PPP will extend moral and political support and if there is middle way, the PPP can give more support.”

To a question with regard to possibility of arrest of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that his arrest would amount to crossing red line as there was no case against him. He asked how a chief minister could be arrested mere on the basis of allegation and without conviction. “If the Sindh chief minister is arrested on the basis of allegations and without evidence, it would be assumed as crossing of the red line and the PPP will respond to it forcefully,” he said adding that the PPP will make such strong protest that they will forget the sit-in of Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

“We will not accept such an attack on the province whose chief minister has a mandate and has been elected,” he said. In reply to another question, the PPP chairman said that the selected government wants to appease selectors and is indifferent towards the people of Pakistan who are being crushed under the burden of price hike and unemployment. “The selected government does not come to power with the votes of the people but they are imposed on the people so they have no feeling for the masses. Common people are worried about their utility bills,” he said.

Responding to a question about opposition unity, he said that the PPP has been in contact with all opposition parties including the PML-N. He asked why India did not attack Kashmir in the last 70 years and why it has attacked Kashmir now. “Puppet Prime Minister Imran Khan failed to apprise the world about this attack in the UN General Assembly,” he said.

He said that the only solution to Kashmir issue is through plebiscite according to UN resolutions. Criticising Imran Khan, he said that he did not talk about the right of plebiscite of Kashmiri people and he never visited different countries to convey Pakistan’s and Kashmir’s cause to the world leaders.

To another question about the trash of Karachi, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said sarcastically that he heard that whole country is clean and the United Nations has decided to nominate Imran khan and ‘selectors’ for noble peace prize that they clean the whole country and the trash is only in Karachi. “The malice campaign is going on,” he said.

He said the United Nations listed Faisalabad and another city of Punjab as most polluted ones but why Karachi was being singled out and malice campaign to defame Karachi has been launched. “The Federation thinks that they could hold Karachi with malice campaign but they did not know the Karachi people will not tolerate it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will meet Opposition Leader in the National Assembly and President PML-N Shahbaz Sharif today (Tuesday) to discuss and formulate a joint strategy with regard to the proposed Azadi March of JUI-F Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

The meeting that would be held at the residence of Shahbaz Sharif is important as both parties — PPP and PML-N — has suggested for convening of the All Parties Conference to discuss the Charters of demand for the proposed Azadi March.