ALTAF HUSSAIN SURPRISED AT THE TIMING OF THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT AND TERMS IT THE MOST BLATANT DIVERSIONARY TACTIC OF THE GOVERNMENT

London: August 28, 1998

Altaf Hussain, the MQM founder leader, in response to numerous questions posed to him by the media and human rights organisations including the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, has expressed his total astonishment at the introduction today of a new Constitutional Amendment in the National Assembly to "professedly" enforce Islamic Shariah in the country. Altaf Hussain said the Constitution of the country is already of an Islamic Republic and Article 2 declares Islam to be the State religion of Pakistan. In addition, the Supreme Court in numerous cases has held the supremacy of Islamic jurisprudence while interpreting and enforcing the laws of the realm. In this background, we should also remember that in June 1988, General Zia as President after the dismissal of the Junejo Government also passed an enactment declaring Islamic Shariah to be the Fundamental Law of the land. As such this is not an issue requiring further debate at this time when the country is faced with a national regional crisis involving its very security and integrity. Altaf Hussain said that it is not possible to deceive the public at home and abroad that this is a pressing and urgent issue at the moment requiring the attention of the people of Pakistan! It is important to remember, he added, that at this very time even the admittedly religious parties of Pakistan are clamouring on the streets demanding from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif the extent of his role and complicity in allowing the missile attack on our brotherly neighbouring country of Afghanistan. It is most astonishing and regrettable, therefore, that while Nawaz Sharif did not deem it proper to discuss in the National Assembly at this time the highly dangerous nature of the crisis facing the country yet he has done so for introducing a Law which manifestly has no immediate urgency of discussion in the country. Unquestionably, such blatant misuse of the official powers of the Chief Executive casts severe doubt on the sincerity of this move at this time. Clearly because national and international criticism was mounting for him to explain the extent of his Government's involvement in this attack on 20^th August, Nawaz Sharif is naïve to think that by deploying such patently diversionary tactics he would be able to escape his administration's current scrutiny by the people of Pakistan on this issue at this time. However, since the MQM is the third biggest party in the country, the Central Co-ordination Committee would examine the Amendment proposed by the Government purely on its merits. For this purpose the Central Co-ordination Committee had requested the formation of an experts committee, the convenor of which would be constitutional jurist Dr. Farooq Hassan, Barrister at Law. Other members of the Committee are Sheikh Liaquat Hussain, MNA, Senator Aftab Ahmed Sheikh and Qazi Khalid Ali, MPA, Advocate. The Committee will examine the contents of the Bill and report to the party after which it will decide how to deal with this matter in the National Assembly. Altaf Hussain concluded that he wanted to tell the people of Pakistan that the MQM fully understood the high significance of the Constitution of the country. His party also understood the significance of democratic thinking and that people of Pakistan being of the Islamic faith were already fully committed to its commandments. Constitutional history of the world, nevertheless, and specially of Pakistan, bore eloquent testimony to the fact that fundamental changes in the Basic Law of the Land are not made in a hurry, or surreptitiously or to hoodwink public opinion to meet opportunistic needs of a particular Government of the day. As such his party would take a mature and a nationalistic outlook when this Law is debated in the National Parliament.