People will overthrow Musharraf if he stays in uniform, says MMA [View All]

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_13-12-2004_pg1_3

Wednesday, December 15, 2004








* Up to 12,000 attend third rally
* Qazi says Musharraf acting like ‘viceroy and US agent’

By Qamar Jabbar

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LAHORE: Leaders of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) warned President Pervez Musharraf on Sunday that the people would oust him from power if he did not step down as army chief by December 31.

The president must shed his uniform within the deadline set by the 17th Amendment, otherwise he will “face the consequences”, said Qazi Hussain Ahmed, chief of the six-party MMA, as he addressed thousands of supporters at Minar-e-Pakistan at the third of the religious parties alliance’s anti-uniform rallies. Independent observers put the turnout at between 10,000 and 12,000, though MMA leaders claimed that more than 50,000 people had attended.

Hafiz Salman Butt, chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami in Lahore and a rally organiser, claimed that police had stopped several buses carrying MMA supporters from attending the rally. “Gen Musharraf is acting like a viceroy and agent of the United States and wants to seize our freedom and identity as a sovereign state,” Qazi said, as participants chanted “Go Musharraf go”, “Man in uniform is unacceptable” and “Friends of the US are traitors”.
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“The MMA will continue opposing Musharraf’s pro-US policies and the agenda of world powers aimed at making Pakistan a secular state,” he said. Allama Sajid Naqvi, MMA vice president, urged Muslims of all sects to unite to “protect” their Islamic values and culture against the government’s attempt to promote “un-Islamic and foreign” values in Pakistan. Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa, the Punjab president of the PML-N, accused Gen Musharraf of repeated violations of the Constitution and emphasised that the MMA and the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy must work together against the president. He invited the MMA to the ARD rally in Sialkot on December 20.
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Being a friend of pResident Unelected doesn't seem to be doing Musharraf much good, does it?