Qazi urges Jamali to hold national debate

PESHAWAR: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad said on Wednesday that the country could not be pulled out of the present crisis until a national consensus was developed.

“I have suggested to Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali that he should convene a conference of all the political leaders, including those in exile, and devise a consensus strategy to rid the country of the American influence,” he said on the Khyber Union of Journalists’ Mulaqaat programme.

He said the country was besieged from all sides and was passing through the most critical stage of its history. “Neither the Army nor the politicians that support it can tackle the threats that are currently facing the nation,” he said.

Mr Ahmad said General Pervez Musharraf’s “Pakistan First” policy had basically pushed the country into a steadily growing crisis.

First, Musharraf reversed his Afghan policy because of urging from US President George Bush, he said. Now, he was undertaking an operation against his own people in the tribal areas to serve American interests, he added. He said a pro-Pakistan government had existed in Afghanistan. But, he said, General Musharraf promised President Bush air bases and intelligence support to dislodge the Taliban regime.

Mr Ahmad said General Musharraf was instrumental in converting the Line of Control into an international border between India and Pakistan by starting a bus service between the two parts of Kashmir. “What kind of travel documents would the Kashmiris living on both side of the Line of Control possess?” he asked.

He added that General Musharraf changed the Kashmir policy under American pressure and had started negotiations with India without solving the Kashmir issue.

“America wants to establish not only economic supremacy in the world, but also cultural supremacy,” he said. As America’s strategic partner, India wants the role of a mini-super power in the region, he said.

“Dr Qadeer was given the mandate to make nuclear bombs and had access to an un-auditable fund for this purpose.

He also had permission to make contact with the underworld, without which the nuclear programme would have been impossible,” he said. Mr Ahmad added that the United States wants drastic changes in Pakistan’s educational curriculum to deprive students of an awareness of Islamic culture. —Staff Report

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