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Altaf backs Musharraf on uniform issue
MQM team meets PM
Tension grips parts of Karachi
Road accidents claim 2 lives
High-level meeting reviews KMTP
4 held for attack on Gurdwara
KASUR: ASI among eleven policemen booked
25 dead in Sialkot mosque explosion, Over 50 hurt
Toy bomb kills 4 students near Wana
Altaf backs Musharraf on uniform issue
RAWALPINDI: Altaf Hussain, the Chief of the Muttahida
Qaumi Movement, has called upon all political and religious parties to adopt
a one-point agenda if they intended to end the supremacy of military in
Pakistan.
He observed that efforts of particular parties, including
the PPP, the PML-N and the JI, would not succeed in this direction unless all
parties got united on this issue. The Muttahida chief was addressing newsmen
by telephone directly from London at a Meet the Press Programme at the
Rawalpindi-Islamabad Press Club here on Friday.
The programme was attended by all the Muttahida
parliamentarians, ministers, MNAs and MPAs, as well as leaders. President of
the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Club Muhammad Nawaz Raza and General Secretary
Mushtaq Minhas also spoke on the occasion.
Responding to a question, Altaf Hussain said the Muttahida
would certainly support and back other parties if their agenda was based on
reality and on positive stance. He also agreed to lead all the parties in
preparing the agenda and achieving consensus on it.
Without hitting at the present government, Altaf Hussain
criticised the foreign policies of Pakistan since its creation. Due to wrong
and weak policies, Pakistan had suffered a lot, he said.
The foreign policies, he said, should be pragmatic and
positive in order to bear fruitful results. "Because of continuation of
wrong policies, internally and externally, true democracy could not take root
in our country," he regretted.
Since its creation, Pakistan, he said, had been ruled by
the feudal, who greatly benefited both during the civilian and military rule.
Because of the feudal, he said, the middle class leadership, except that of
the Muttahida, could not emerge on the horizon of the country’s politics.
He agreed that the Jama’at-e-Islami also consisted of middle class people.
However, he said, the ideology of Jama’at-e-Islami was different. It does
not fight for true facts and the given right situation. Otherwise, the JI
would have become a strong party, he said.
Talking on the current political situation obtaining in
country, the Muttahida chief said after the incident of 9/11 the global
political scenario had completely changed. Pakistan is passing through a
serious critical phase, he said and added the US had become the uni-polar
power of the world. He said the religious and some political parties of
Pakistan played a key role in making the US a uni-polar power.
He said now when the country’s security and its survival
was at stake it was the duty of every political and religious party to get
united and use all their efforts to promote national integration, rather than
making the prevailing conditions worst by remaining engaged in the raging
controversy of ‘Wardhy’ or no ‘Wardhy’.
The Muttahida leader said after 9/11 General Pervez
Musharraf was constantly in touch with the governments of the US, the UK and
other European countries and directing all efforts to combat terrorism,
nationally and internationally.
Replying to a question, Altaf Hussain said time and again
all the religious and political parties had supported the Army and asked why
they could not bear "Wardhy" at this crucial phase.
If all the religious and political parties are ready to
start a united struggle to end interference by the armed forces in the
political affairs of the country and establish true democracy, then they
should come forward and resign from all the legislative bodies, he said.
Altaf Hussain said the Muttahida was of the view that
General Musharraf should retain both the posts. He said this would not be
anything new because in the regime of Muhammad Ali Bogra, General Ayub Khan
held the post of Chief of Army Staff and the portfolio of defence minister as
well. Similarly, General Ziaul Haq held two portfolios when he was the
president as well as the COAS and the Jama’at-e-Islami was part and parcel
of that arrangement, he alleged.
Continuing, Altaf Hussain said in 1977 the Pakistan
National Alliance, comprising nine political and religious parties, launched
a countrywide agitation in the name of Islam. As a result of their campaign,
the country had to bear loss of millions of rupees, he said.
And when Gen Ziaul Haq imposed martial law none of the
party in the alliance opposed it. Instead, they hailed the martial law and
joined Gen Zia’s regime, he added.
He said the question arose that did the PNA launch the
movement for Islam or for the imposition of martial law. He said the nine
religious and political parties, not only cheated /deceived the people of
Pakistan, but also established a shameful example in the history of Pakistan.
Altaf Hussain said they were now again trying to fool the nation. But the
people of Pakistan are now fully aware about their ill intentions, fake and
hollow slogans and their efforts would go in vain, he predicted. To a
question on Kalabagh Dam, Altaf Hussain said the Muttahida would not
compromise on principles. "We demand of the federal government to get
the consent of the Sindhi and Frontier people before taking any decision on
it otherwise it would produce very bad results," he added.
When APNEC President and senior Journalist Pervaiz Shaukat
and the PFUJ President CR Shamsi thanked the efforts of the Muttahida with
regard to Wage Board issue of journalists, Altaf Hussain directed Farooq
Sattar to hold special meetings with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and other
committee members to get the Wage Board implemented at the earliest.
MQM team meets PM
ISLAMABAD, Oct 1: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Friday said that prime objective of the government was public welfare and PML and its allied parties were working together to achieve this objective.
He was talking to a three-member delegation of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, led by Farooq Sattar, MNA, here at the Prime Minister's House. The prime minister commended MQM for their support and hoped that MQM under the leadership of Altaf Hussain and new deputy convenor would continue its efforts for the stability and strengthening democracy and welfare of the people.
The prime minister congratulated Farooq Sattar on his appointment as Deputy Convenor of the party and hoped that cooperation between PML and allies would further strengthen to gear up efforts for the welfare of the people. -APP
Tension grips parts of Karachi
KARACHI: Tension gripped parts of Karachi on Friday after
the news of Sialkot incident reached the city. At some places, people, mostly
youths, came out on the roads to protest against the incident. They hurled
stones on the vehicles in different areas. A group of annoyed youths turned
violent late on Friday night, while asking the shopkeepers to close their
shops in the vicinity of Ancholi Society within the limits of Samanabad
Police Station. Heavy contingents of police and Ranger were deployed in the
Ancholi area, but the annoyed youths set a parked school van (CL-7788) to
fire and also burnt tyres in the locality. Sources in the fire brigade, while
confirming the torching of school van, told The News that they controlled the
fire and the vehicle was partially burnt. Town Police Officer (TPO) Gulbarg
Lateef Siddiqi told The News that tension prevailed in some areas but police
controlled the situation. Tension was also reported as prevailing in Shah
Faisal Colony and Jafar-e-Tayyar Society, where the sounds of aerial firing
echoed till the filing of this report. Meanwhile, Shia organisation
Pasban-e-Aza announced to observe mourning for three days in the city.
Road accidents claim 2 lives
KARACHI: Reckless driving claimed two lives, an elderly
man was found dead and four persons, including advocate-general Sindh,
received injuries in separate mishaps on Friday, police said.
According to details, Ali Gul, 35, a labourer was crushed
to death by a recklessly driven truck (JT-6598) near his house in Mominabad.
Naveed Malik, 28, was killed when a carelessly driven
truck (LS-848) dashed into his pick-up loaded with vegetable near Abidabad.
BODY FOUND: Body of about 65-year-old Hassan Gul, a
garbage collector, was found lying in a nullah near Defence police station.
BURNT TO DEATH: Nazia, 20, wife of Abid, a resident Malir
Cantonment, who had received 80 per cent burn wounds in her house late
Thursday night, breathed her last in the Civil Hospital on Friday.
INJURED: Rahim Jamote, 40, a resident of Memon Goth Malir,
was shot at and injured seriously when two motorcyclists fired on him on
Burns Road.
Three persons, including the advocate-general Sindh,
received injuries when their official car turned turtle after bursting of a
tyre on Superhighway.
ARRESTS: Gulistan-e-Jauhar police during snap checking
arrested two suspects at a teashop, which yielded a TT pistol and a dagger.
The suspects were identified as Raheel and Iftikhar, residents of Surjani
Town and People’s Colony.
Meanwhile, the police arrested 18 accused from various
city areas and claimed to have recovered five pistols, a revolver, hashish
and stolen goods from their possession.
ROBBERIES: Javed Ahmed was deprived of Rs1.74 million by
robbers in SITE police jurisdiction.
Ashfaq was deprived of Rs0.36m by four gunmen in Kharadar.
Three dacoits barged into the house of Rafique in Korangi
police limits and looted Rs94,225, jewellery, mobile phone and valuables.
Twelve armed bandits entered the house of Abdul Qadar in
Gulshan-e-Iqbal and looted Rs60,000, jewellery, mobile phone and other
valuables.
Three robbers came to the shop of Faiz Muhammad in
Al-Falah police limits and snatched his cash and four mobile phones.
Imran Islam, Nadeem and Ayaz Hussain were deprived of
their cash, mobile phones and other valuables by armed men.
VEHICLES: At least 19 vehicles including 12 motorcycles
were hijacked from various city localities.
A car owned by Qutubuddin, a senior journalist and the
Resident Editor of a Lahore-based daily was stolen from Nicol Road off M.A.
Jinnah Road within Mithadar police jurisdiction.
High-level meeting reviews KMTP
KARACHI: A high-level meeting, held on Friday with the
Sindh minister for planning and development Syed Shoaib Ahmed Bukhari in the
chair, reviewed the progress regarding the implementation of the Karachi Mass
Transit Project (KMTP).
The Director-General, Karachi Mass Transit Cell, Malik
Zaheerul Islam, briefed the meeting on the progress of the project and
informed the authorities that in response to the internationally published
invitation, 22 firms purchased the request-for-proposal document and only
eight firms were pre-qualified.
He said that the Terms of Reference (TOR) of the project
duly reviewed by the CDGK Consultants, were sent to them and later on, a
pre-bid meeting was arranged for interaction with the bidders to facilitate
them for submission of bids, which was attended by almost all the
pre-qualified firms.
The meeting was also informed that only two firms M/s
American Magley Technology Inc, USA, and China National Machinery and
Equipment Corporation, Group (CNMEG) had submitted proposals.
The City Nazim, Naimatullah Khan, explained the background
against which CDGK had no choice but to sign a Preliminary implementation
Agreement with CNMEG. The same was initiated in furtherance of the Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) singed by the Governor, Sindh, and CNMEG on 16-09-2003
for Priority Corridor-2 (Orangi Township to Cantt. Station) in which it was
categorically mentioned that if no BOT offer was received for Priority-I
Corridor, then credit financing would also be available for the same
corridor.
He further explained that the agreement which CNMEG was
also signed with due consideration to friendly relations with China and also
preferential loan agreement loan agreement signed during the visit of
President of Pakistan to China last year.
Provincial Minister, Planning and Development Department,
Syed Shoaib Ahmed Bukhari, expressed his reservation on the federal
government’s BOT proposal and was of the view that this proposal would
delay the implementation of project and would bring it to nought, especially
when the CDGK has already completed an entire process for getting this
project implemented through BOT.
The Minister further said that preliminary implementation
agreement signed between the CDGK and CNMEG was in furtherance of the agreed
MoU by Governor of Sindh and the firm on 16-09-2004 should be honoured. The
Minister also affirmed the support of Government of Sindh for the project.
The chair asked the team nominated by the Deputy-Chairman,
Planning Commission, to name a single project in Pakistan on BOT basis over
the last 57 years. The reply was in negative. On this the chair observed that
if not even a single project was ever initiated or completed on a BOT basis
the where was the sense in pressing to have the project on a BOT basis when
even in New Delhi such a project had been completed not on a BOT basis but on
a credit financing basis.
He said that such an exercise in futility was just aimed
at delaying this project and bringing the same to nought. Such exercise, he
said, was the "uncontrollable itch" of the bureaucracy in Islamabad
for having a finger in every provincial pie.
The DCO Mir Hussain Ali, the Director-General, Karachi
Mass Transit Cell, Malik Zaheerul Islam, and others attended the meeting.
4 held for attack on Gurdwara
SHEIKHUPURA, Oct 1: Police on Friday arrested four people - two lawyers and a former MPA - on charges of instigating students to attack Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib.
Already under investigation, the Nankana bar president, Rana Ali Asghar, former president Rai Mohammad Amin Bhatti, senior lawyer and ex-MPA Chaudhry Barkat Ali Ghayur and Nankana Citizens Welfare Society president Abdul Hamid Rehmani were summoned to the DPO's office here and later confined in A division lockup.
Rana Ali Asghar and Rai Amin Bhatti are also union council nazims. The Nankana bar meanwhile decided to approach the Lahore High Court against the 'illegal detention' of three lawyers.
KASUR: ASI among eleven policemen booked
KASUR, Oct 1: Sadar police on Friday registered a case against 12 policemen, including an ASI, for trespassing and kidnapping a man and torturing him and his family besides keeping him in illegal detention for three days at CIA Model Town, Lahore.
Police said taxi driver Muhammad Aslam and Munir Ahmed of Qadiwind Road, Kasur, had grudge over a minor issue with Aslam. CIA ASI Ehsanullah was a close friend of Munir and at his beck and call, the ASI along with 11 other policemen entered the house of Aslam.
The intruders started beating him and broke his one arm and one leg. They also tortured his wife and children. Later, they snatched cash and ornaments, dragged him out of the house and bundled him into an official van and took him to the CIA Model Town, Lahore.
Afzal Nasir, victim's brother, went to Lahore and requested the ASI for the release of his brother, but he demanded a bribe of Rs20,000. After receiving the gratification, the ASI released Aslam after detaining him unlawfully for three days.
The captive was admitted to the DHQ Hospital, Kasur, where doctors confirmed breaking of his one arm and a leg due to police torture. Nasir moved an application to the Kasur DPO, who after an inquiry, directed the Sadar police to register a case against the accused policemen. However, no arrest has so far been made.
25 dead in Sialkot mosque explosion, Over 50 hurt
SIALKOT: As many as 25 people were killed and more than 50
seriously injured when a suicide bomber detonated a bomb in Jamia Masjid
Zainabia (Imambargah Mistri Abdullah) at Mahaja Road at 1:30 pm on Friday.
The AFP, however, put the toll at 30 dead. "Thirty
people have died so far and the toll may rise as some of the injured are in
critical condition," police officer Syed Ishtiaq Hussain Shah told AFP
near the site of blast.
Eyewitnesses said a man, whose identity is yet to be
ascertained, entered the mosque with a briefcase while the Friday sermon was
being delivered. The Sialkot DPO opined that the man with the briefcase was
the main suspect, who also died in the blast.
Four of the bodies have not been identified as yet.
However, the 21 other bodies have been identified as, AJK Assembly ex-deputy
speaker Shaukat Ali, Brig (retd) Muhammad Hanif Jaffery, Riaz Hussain
Jaffery, Syed Idrees Ahmad Shirazi, Khadim Hussain, Ghulam Raza, Ikhlaq
Hussain, Asad Abbas, Waqar Ali Jaffery, Malik Faiz, Sibtul Hasan, Maulvi
Muhammad Ali, Syed Karrar Abbas, Tajamal Hussain, Zaheer Hasan Rizvi,
Muhammad Riaz, Ghulam Raza, Bao Riaz, Riaz Matwalli, Riasat Ali and Faiz
Hussain. Among the injured are ex-president Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and
industry Ghazanfar Ali, Zulfiqar Ali, Zuhair Hasan, Murtaza, Ibrar Ali. The
injured are being treated at different private and government hospitals.
The main hall of the mosque had a capacity to accommodate
1,000 people and at the time of the blast it was almost full. The blast was
so powerful that it created a half foot deep and two feet wide crater in the
floor and blew up left wall of the hall. Human limbs were also seen littered
in the hall. Police headed by DPO Nisar Saroya rushed to the spot and
supervised the rescue activities.
Meanwhile, another briefcase with 9 kg explosive was found
outside the left wall of the mosque. The Bomb Disposal Squad immediately
defused the explosive device in briefcase.
Angry people gathered at the site and chanted slogans
against the police and other law-enforcement agencies. They pelted stones at
the police and beat up a DSP. The charged crowd also torched a police van and
a motorbike. The angry mob burnt tyres and blocked a number of city roads and
the railway line. The district administration sought help form Army to
maintain law and order in the city.
Soldiers are seen patrolling the city streets along with
local police. All the roads and railway line have been reopened for traffic
in the evening. Emergency has been declared at all the city hospitals. All
the shops, cinemas and other business centres were closed after the blast.
Markazi Anjuman Tajran Sialkot President Ghulam Mujtaba
Mahar has announced a two-day shutter down to mourn the tragic incident.
Agencies add: The Namaz-e-Janaaza of all the victims will
be held at the police ground of the Sialkot Police Line, on Saturady (today)
after noon, amid tight security, sialkot district Nazim Mian Naeem Javaid
told newsmen.
He said that the Punjab Chief Minister Ch Pervaiz Elahi
would visit Sialkot on Saturday (today) to condole this tragedy with the
heiris of the victims.
Separately, addressing a press conference here, provincial
Minister for Industries and Investment Muhammad Ajmal Cheema said that a
judge of the Lahore High Court would hold judicial inquiry into the incident.
The minister also announced financial assistance of Rs 100,000 for each dead’s
heirs and Rs 50,000 for each injured.
Former prime minister and PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto
has expressed shock and grief over the killing of worshippers in a bomb blast
in Sialkot. "The bomb blast at a place of worship and the killing of
innocent people is the most reprehensible act and the PPP condemns it in the
strongest possible words," she said in a statement.
Federal Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said Friday that
following the bomb blast in Sialkot, security has been tightened across the
country. Talking to a private TV channel, he said law-enforcement agencies
have been put on alert to avoid any untoward incident.
President Pakistan Muslim League and former Prime Minister
Ch Shujaat Hussain have expressed his deep sense of grief and sorrow over the
Sialkot blast. According to a press release issued here Friday, he said that
the perpetrators of this worst act of terrorism would be dealt with an iron
hand. PML-N chairman Raja Zafar ul Haq also termed the attack the worst kind
of terrorism and an inhuman act.
MMA central leader Allama Syed Sajid Ali Naqvi and chief
of Tehreek-e-Nifaz Fiqqah-e-Jafria, Agha Hamid Ali Moosvi, expressed profound
grief and sorrow over the tragic killings.
Toy bomb kills4 students near Wana
WANA: A toy bomb, shaped like a football killed four
students, aged 8 to 12 years in Sarwakai sub-division in South Waziristan on
Friday.
Among the dead were two brothers, Sherullah and Babar
Khan, sons of Aziz Khan. Eyewitnesses said one of them had kicked the toy
football, triggering an explosion that killed him and his brother on the
spot.
Two other students, Ahad Khan, son of Nurjan, and Shah
Hussain, son of Muhammad Hashim, were critically wounded in the blast and
were rushed to hospitals in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan. They succumbed to
their injuries on the way.
A fifth student, Sher Ghulam, son of Sherbad Khan, was
seriously injured and had to be transported to distant Dera Ismail Khan for
treatment. With his leg badly wounded, the unfortunate boy was hospitalised
at the District Headquarters Hospital in the city.
All the students belonged to the Mahsud sub-tribe of
Shamankhel, which a day earlier had decided through its elders to allow Army
to move in their area and deny sanctuaries to the militants.
Villagers and government officials said the students were
on their way to school from Bangashwala when the incident took place. All
were students of the Shaoor Primary School, located near the
militants-infested Barwand town.
Eyewitnesses said the football, containing explosives, was
lying by the roadside and placed nearby was a currency note of Rs 100. The
two objects aroused the curiosity of the children. As they walked closer to
the toy football, one of the students kicked it with his foot. The next
moment, there was a loud explosion that blew up the students and prompted
tribesmen to rush to the site of the blast.
AFP adds: Military spokesman Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan said
security forces were later involved in a shootout with militants during which
one man was killed and another wounded and arrested. "Both the foreign
terrorists were planting an explosive device on a road when security forces
surrounded them... (and) opened fire," he said.