-Fazal says PM took ‘mother of NROs’ in foreign funding case
-Bilawal claims Industry cannot flourish if govt doesn’t address laborers’ issues
-Info Minister maintains PDM revolves around disagreements based on self-interest
By Ajmal Khan Yousafzai
ISLAMABAD: The opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) scheduled march to the Election Commission of Pakistan on January 19 will be a protest and not an “attack”, the alliance’s president Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Monday.
Speaking after a meeting of the PDM steering committee in Islamabad, Rehman said PDM members were democratic people and followed the Constitution and law. “We want freedom of democracy in the country because that is the demand of the Constitution and the law,” he added.
He said the meeting discussed the strategy for Tuesday’s protest outside the ECP and it was decided that “the PDM leadership will enthusiastically stage a protest demonstration in front of the Election Commission regarding the foreign funding case.” Rehman termed the foreign funding case “the biggest scandal in Pakistan’s political history” whose central character he said was Prime Minister Imran Khan.
He accused the premier of illegally collecting millions of rupees from around the world in the name of his party and “using them for political disruption and election rigging by bringing the money into the country through hundi and other means”.
Rehman said the foreign funding case against the ruling PTI had been pending for six years and Prime Minister Imran took “the mother of NROs” to create political instability in Pakistan and “used funds collected in the name of charity for personal business and spreading chaos, illegally and through secret accounts”.
The foreign funding case against the PTI was filed in November 2014 by Akbar S. Babar, a founding member of the party. The case relates to allegations of undisclosed foreign funding of the PTI.
“We will demand the ECP to immediately give a decision on the crime which has been accepted,” he said, adding that further delays were giving rise to doubts and suspicions. Referring to former premier Nawaz Sharif, Rehman said on one hand a decision was issued against an elected prime minister within six months, while today a case was pending against a “selected” prime minister for six years. “What kind of justice is this?” he asked. The PDM chief appealed to Pakistanis to participate in the protest for the sake of “national security” and against “obtaining funds from anti-Pakistan lobbies”.
He said Monday’s meeting had given final shape to a schedule for protests and rallies across the country, and announced that the PDM leadership will participate in an “Israel Na Manzoor” (Israel not accepted) “million march”. On February 5, he said, the day will be observed to express solidarity with Kashmiris, while simultaneously a “big rally” will be held in Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh where Kashmir’s political parties have also been invited.
Accusing the government of having “sold” Kashmir, Rehman said this strong protests will be held on Feb 5 for doing away with the Kashmir cause. He said rallies will also be in held in Hyderabad on Feb 9, in Sialkot on Feb 13, in Balochistan’s Pishin on Feb 16, in Sardogha on Feb 23, in Khuzdar on Feb 27. Following the scheduled public meetings, the PDM will take a decision about staging a long march to Islamabad, Rehman added.
Answering a question, the PDM chief clarified that the protest in front of the ECP should not be equated with the alliance’s planned long march. “Long march will be from the whole country; here we’re not calling people from the entire country but workers can arrive and participate at their own will,” he added.
Meanwhile, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said Monday that the country’s industries cannot flourish until the government does something for the problems and woes of the nation’s labourers. Addressing a gathering in Sukkur, he said that the Benazir Mazdoor Card (BMC) would be rolled out soon, and through it, “no labourer would be left helpless during these hard times.”
“PPP stands like a wall against anti-labourer policies,” the PPP chairman said, adding that the government’s announcement of building houses proved to be a “conspiracy” against labourers. “Despite limited resources, our work is in front of you,” Bilawal told the gathering, adding that the Centre was “taking away gas and the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases from the province”. He further said that poor people were being left roofless in the name of encroachment hinting at the anti-encroachment drive underway to clear Karachi’s nullahs. A day earlier, Sindh Education and Labour Minister Saeed Ghani had said that the provincial government would start distributing the BMC this month.
According to the PPP leader, the card is the “first of its kind initiative by any province in the country for the welfare of the labourers”.
Addressing a ceremony hosted by the North Karachi Association of Trade, Saeed Ghani maintained that just like the launch of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) some years back, the BMC is a groundbreaking project initiated for the welfare of the deprived sections of society. The minister explained that the BMC would serve as an ATM, education, and healthcare card for labourers. Later in the day Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz said on Monday that opposition parties alliance PDM was revolving around disagreements based on self-interest.
