Tuesday, November 15

MMA is not broken yet, Prof Sajid Mir

The Muttahida Majlas-e-Amal was not broken yet, and I supported Chief Minister NWFP Akram Durrani’s decision of attending the meeting of the National Security Council for once-and-one-point agenda, said Ameer Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith Pakistan, while addressing a Press conference at a local hotel on Sunday.
Prof. Mir stated that he supported Akram Durrani’s decision of attending the NSC meeting because four of his province’s districts were devastated by the earthquake. “He went to the meeting to get the Federal government’s support for his people, and it was in his favour as well,” he added.
While commenting on the performance of the government, Prof Mir stated the government moved to help the victims after one week, and the army reached there even later. “Civil government remained in lull. The army got delayed because it did not get the orders to help the victims. The collective role of the army is appreciable, but a few officers have been found treating the victims rudely, while the former should have been friendly. The Army is leading the relief operations, and justifiable criticism should be done as it is not a sacred cow,” he stated. He also maintained that the army should have working under the civil administration according to the constitution, but this was not the case there.
Prof Mir stressed the need for transparency in the aid, both domestic and international, and demanded that a Parliamentary Committee, representing all parties, should be constituted in this regard. He negated the assertion that a few politicians and parties were trying to gain political mileage through relief efforts. “Gen Pervez Musharraf is the biggest beneficiary as far as politics is concerned, and he is exploiting the situation in his favour to maximum,” he added.
He deplored the presence of the NATO forces in the affected areas. “NATO’s role is beyond understanding. It is neither trained nor has any training to meet such challenges. Moreover, it is contradictory to the demands of defence and national spirit,” said Prof Mir adding that acceptance of the Israeli aid was unnecessary.
Prof Mir maintained that aid by the Muslim countries exceeded to that of the non-Muslim states. “Organisations, which are disliked by America and its allies, have contributed substantially. International comity did help, but it fell short of expectations. On the other hand, the Arab world played a tangible role,” he added.
While talking about his Party’s contribution, he told that, for the short term and permanent rehabilitation of the quake-victims, it had planned to construct 20,000 houses, 200 mosques, ten schools and three centres for orphans. “So far the Jamiat has distributed Rs 3.25 crore among 16, 117 quake-victims. A mini hospital, tent village residing 250 and primary school are functional at Balakot. 200 truck loads of relief goods have been sent to the affected areas,” he added.
Prof Mir came back to the Punjab after his three days visit to Muzaffarabad, Balakot and Bagh. Haji Abdul Razzaq, Mian Naeem-ur-Rehman, Hafiz Abdul Kareem, Rana Shafique Khan Pasroori, Muhammad Amjad Ajmal, Imtiaz Ahmed Mujahid, Rana Nasrullah Khan and other leaders accompanied him at the Press conference. (November 13, 2005)

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