Opposition gives strike call on 9th
By Zulfiqar Ahmad

ISLAMABAD—In their joint declaration, all apposition parties vowed to launch a decisive countrywide wheel-jam strike from September 9 (Friday) in protest against what they said Musharraf policies.
The joint declaration was announced in the National Leaders Conference, organized by Muttahida Majlis Amal here on Sunday. They called upon masses of the country to stand united by the side of opposition in making the a success.
In their joint declaration, they said government committed blatant rigging in the LG polls which further worsened the already crises like situation in the country.
They were of the view that people could not expect from the incumbent government for holding free and fair election in the country while experiencing the recent LG polls.
“The situation has pushed the country into a blind alley and made imperative for all patriotic, democratic and Islamic forces to liberate Pakistan from the shackles of military dictatorship and restore 1973 constitution”, it stated.
They held for achieving the goal, the national representatives meeting of patriotic, democratic and Islamic leaders, intellectuals, retired judges, lawyers, journalists, Ulema and retired civil and military personalities announcing a practical struggle to pull the country out of the military dictatorship and usher it to the democratic path under the 73 constitution.
They asked president Musharraf to immediately resign from both the offices, which he forcefully occupied. “If he does not resign than country-wide campaign will launch against him, they added.
They made firm promise to remain committed to achieve the goal under circumstances till their realization and continues to struggle for it.
Agencies add: Opposition on Sunday called for a country-wide strike to press their demand for the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf. The strike call for Friday was given at a meeting of opposition groups hosted by Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, the main Islamic alliance and was also attended by secular groups, including the Pakistan Peoples’ Party of self-exiled former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Opposition protest is unlikely to pose any serious challenge to the government led by Musharraf which enjoys comfortable majority in the parliament but the move shows growing cooperation between the opposition groups.
Qazi Hussain Ahmed, chief of the opposition Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Islamic alliance, said the opposition would launch a public campaign to force Musharraf to step down both as president and army chief of staff.
“The opposition will launch a country-wide protest campaign if General Musharraf and his government would not resign,” Ahmed told a news conference in Islamabad. “We will start our campaign against President Musharraf on Sept 9. A countrywide strike will be observed”.
The Islamic alliance in 2003 supported Musharraf’s bid to wield enormous power by voting in favour of controversial constitutional changes in the parliament in return for his pledge to stand down as army chief by the end of 2004.
Relations became strained after Musharraf reneged on his pledge. The military has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its history since its since independence from British colonial rule in 1947. The Islamic groups also oppose Musharraf’s support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism and his efforts to make peace with India.
Ahmed also criticised the recent meeting between Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri and his Israeli counterpart Silvan Shalom in Istanbul, saying the government has taken a u-turn on the issue of Palestine.
The meeting was the first publicly acknowledged high-level contact between the pre-dominantly Muslim nation and the Jewish state. “A person (Musharraf) is imposing his wishes on this nation. He is changing policies on Kashmir and Palestine without taking parliament into confidence,” he added. Musharraf has said Pakistan would not recognise Israel until a Palestinian state was established.
Online adds: Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad has accused the government of compromising country's national interests by making diplomatic contacts with Israel.
"Kasuri-Shalom formal interaction in Istanbul implies current rulers would soon recognize the illegitimate state (Israel). This goes against ideology of Pakistan and our interest", Qazi Hussain told the annual gathering of the AJK Jamaat-e-Islami general council members here on Sunday.
He said foreign minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri met with his Israeli counterpart Salvin Shalom to please imperialist forces that were bent hard to become country's decision-makers.
He said, "Israeli forces' pullout from Palestinian territories is just an eyewash. They would come back whenever they like”.
He said Pakistani nation was with their Palestinian brothers and sisters in their fight for freedom and did not back recent 'summersault' in Pakistan's policy towards Israel.
"Like Father of the Nation, we still consider Israel an illegitimate child of the West and want complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the occupied territories", he said. He said the nation would strongly resist any move aimed at recognizing Israel as a sovereign state.