Altaf Hussain wants consensus on water projects
The Dawn
22 September 2003
By Our Reporter
The London-based chief of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Altaf Hussain, has said that
nuclear or other conventional military power alone cannot guarantee integrity of
Pakistan unless every citizen is treated equally and the rights of all the
federating units are respected.
He said this while addressing party activists who had gathered in London to
celebrate his 50th birthday.
He referred to the former Soviet Union which could not remain united despite
being a nuclear power. Similarly Pakistan could also become united if rights of
all the people were respected, he said.
Referring to the prevalent political system in Pakistan Mr Hussain said that a
few families of the feudal and moneyed people, including the Generals, had been
calling shots. Their legacy continued as 98 per cent of the down-trodden
remained without the basic needs, he said.
Mr Hussain was critical of the dual system of education in the country, one of
which, he said, was to cater to the needs of the privileged class through
English medium and English legacy schools whereas 98 per cent of the people of
Pakistan were condemned to rot in government schools or colleges, where there
were hardly any facilities.
Mr Hussain called for removing this distortion by finishing the dual system. He
said that if the rich wanted to send their children to high-cost English medium
institutions, they might do so but at the same time the government should also
provide similar facilities to the 98 per cent people who could not afford to
send their children to good schools. There should a level playing field for
every one and this apartheid should come to an end, he said, adding that double
standards were responsible for the country's fragmentation.
Referring to the geo-political situation of the country, Mr Hussain noted that
Pakistan's relations with India, Afghanistan and Iran were not good and the
country was passing through great economic difficulties and had to bank on the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. He said that if foreign aid was
stopped then it would not be possible for the government to manage the affairs
of the country.
He called for banishing sectarian, ethnic, religious and other hatred to make
Pakistan strong and united.
The MQM chief said Kalabagh Dam, Bhasha dam and the Greater Thal Canal should
not be built without a national consensus.
He called upon Pakistanis living in all parts of the world to play their role in
making Pakistan a united and strong country.
He once again called upon leaders of India and Pakistan to accept each other's
reality and establish friendly and good neighbourly relations by promoting
bilateral trade and people to people contact.
Mr Hussain also advocated the Pakistan-first principle in foreign policy and
said that we should maintain principled support to the cause of the people of
Kashmir, Palestine and Iraq but should not interfere in their affairs.
Mr Hussain again flayed religious parties and said that on the one hand their
leaders criticized the West and asked the people to wage Jihad against them and
on the other hand they sent their children to get educated in the same country.
In this context, he mentioned Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Maulana Fazalur Rahman and
Maulana Noorani.
He said that these leaders were not prepared to accept Gen Pervez Musharraf as
President in uniform but in the past they had been rubbing shoulders with Gen
Ziaul Haq.
Mr Hussain paid tribute to his activists who remained steadfast despite
difficulties.