Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Ameer and Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) President Qazi Hussain Ahmad has warned that rulers who believe in "Kamal-ism" (an oblique reference to President Musharraf following Turkish reformer and statesman Mustafa Kamal Attaturk) must be stopped, otherwise they will deprive Pakistan of its ideological status. Addressing the officials of the JI and its related organisations at a meeting in Mansoora that was held to review preparations for the JI's annual congregation, Qazi said that military rulers had become American allies for their vested interest. He said General Musharraf had formed a party of its political subordinates to take Pakistan to his desired direction easily. "The MMA is the only force countering this party whereas other opposition parties like the Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz are pro-US with respect to their policies and are ready to move along with secular forces," Qazi said. He said that differences of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) with the Army were only for power-sharing. Benazir Bhutto has already asked General Musharraf to allow her to become prime minister and continue himself as the president, he said, adding she was also acceptable to the United States.
Qazi said that national security and independence were at stake and only the MMA had the courage and capability to pull the country out of the crisis. He said the JI was an important component of the MMA. Qazi said that efforts to destroy the country politically, economically and culturally had been stepped up with the involvement of the Aga Khan Foundation in Pakistan's education sector. "Serious efforts are being made to change the cultural, ideological and religious values of the country with the help of the AKF, non-government organisations and the media," he said. He stressed the need to build a blockade against the cultural attack to prevent serious damages to the country's ideological foundations. He said that the JI's annual congregation, starting on October 3, was of vital importance because the nation was at crossroads where it had to decide whether to continue moving towards secularism, military dictatorship and autocracy or march towards democracy. |