ALL POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS PARTIES JOIN HANDS ON ONE POINT AGENDA--- ALTAF HUSSAIN.
ADDRESS TO “MEET THE PRESS” AT PINDI PRESS CLUB.

London… 1^st October 2004 The MQM founder and leader Mr. Altaf Hussain said that all political and religious parties of the country should forget their differences and join hands on one point agenda so that the domestic and foreign policies are defined on right lines. Further more, the military should be persuaded not to interfere in civil affairs and continue with their own constructive role. The MQM is prepared to make sacrifices for this one point agenda, he said this in his address to “Meet the Press” at Rawalpindi Press Club on Friday evening. Many journalists, MQM Co-ordination committee members along with Federal and Provincial ministers were also present.Mr Altaf Hussain pointed out that the economic and political health of a country is depended upon the short and long term policies of the establishment of that country. If the policies are based on realism and practicalism the country will move forward, otherwise it will stay in a dead lock.  Regrettably, the Pakistani establishment adopted the policies that did not allow democratic institutions to flourish. Instead, feudal remained in power during successive Marshal laws and civilian governments. From day one the feudal along with civil and military bureaucracy utilised religious parties to perpetuate their hold on power. From the very first Marshal law in 1958 up to Z A Bhuto support for the armed forces and his slogan of  “Roti Kapra aur Makan” to deceive the public and creating rift between East and West Pakistan by raising the slogan “Idhar Hum Udhar Tum”, he in reality sided with the armed forces and condoned army action against the Muslims of East Pakistan.  Mr Altaf Hussain said that today there is great hue and cry about President Pervez Musharraf ‘s ‘uniform’.  May I ask those who are very vocal against his uniform, whether the country would really benefit if he resign the position of COAS and will the interference of armed forces come to an end? This is high time to do some soul searching and hard thinking and desist the temptation of merely scoring points against political opponents. Talking about the international situation Mr Altaf Hussain said that due to misguided policies of our establishment they caused deaths of hundreds of thousands of Pakistani’s in Afghanistan. Our clerics and religious leaders interpreted the cold war between the USA and USSR as Jihad and considered their misguided duty to participate in that war. During that time the war was about access to hot water port and today it is about control of oil reserves of Central Asia. After 9/11 incident Pakistan had no choice but to side with the USA and Europe and declare war against terrorism. The dire situation today is the result of past blunders. It is high time that we learn from our past mistakes and vow never to repeat them. About the Kashmir issue he said that the government of India and Pakistan must not play games with the lives of Kashmiri people and respect their hopes and aspirations.

While replying to a question from a journalist Mr Hussain said that the issue of Kala Bagh dam must be discussed with all the smaller provinces and their objections honestly addressed. On Balochistan issue he said that there must be a dialogue between the government and representatives of the people of Balochistan to resolve all out standing issues. If the people of Balochistan feel that there should not be any more military cantonments in their province, then the President and Prime Minister should hold a meeting to discuss this matter. Finally Mr Altaf Hussain contemned the perpetrators the of bomb blast in Sialkot and prayed for the salvation of those killed and conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families. He also prayed for those injured in this blast and for the people of Balochistan, who have laid their lives in the military operation.