President to declare future agenda on 5th
By Makhdoom Babar

ISLAMABAD—Minister for Information and Broadcasting Muhammad Ali Durrani Saturday said that as the Women Protection Bill (WPB) has become an Act, President Pervez Musharraf has kicked off a mass campaign for true empowerment of the deprived and poor.
He was addressing a news conference here at the PTV Headquarters. The newly appointed PIO Ch. Rashid Ahmed and Director General PBC Ashfaq Ahmed Gondal were also present.
“I felicitate all my countrymen, especially 80 million women, on this august occasion and announce that with the implementation of Women Protection Act (WPA), they have got rid of all sorts of discriminatory laws. I pay tribute to President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, President PML Ch. Shujaat and all the MPs who rendered valuable services in the passage of the historic bill,” said the Minister.
He said President Musharraf has emerged as a symbol of eradicating repression and exploitation and he would personally announce his future agenda on December 5 while addressing the nation. He said the President had launched the women empowerment drive and this campaign would continue till all discriminatory laws are repealed.
“Under this drive, all repressive laws would be amended with the power of parliament and the masses and the deprived and the despoiled masses would be strengthened and empowered. People would support President Musharraf’s initiatives,” said the Minister.
He said President Musharraf had changed the traditional political trends by introducing politics of ‘truth’ and it was the basic reason of his popularity. He said President Musharraf is striving to eliminate discriminatory laws and restore the respect and honour of the common man. He said during the process of passage of WPB in the National Assembly, not a single vote was cast against it and the WPB even changed the Government-Opposition divide.
“Those politicians who were trying to mislead the masses over the WPB should witness that today there is no negative change in Pakistani culture which was in line with Islamic values and it would remain truly Islamic,” said the minister and added that the masses rejected the negative propaganda in this regard. Referring to the MMA, he said there was dictatorship and one-party rule had been imposed within the MMA. “Even the MMA parliamentarians are eager to get rid of this autocrat regime and only a handful elements are trying to hijack the religious alliance, he said and added the masses rejected this negative agenda in past and would repel them in future too.
Senator Durrani urged the MMA leadership to follow the philosophy of Maulana Mufti Mahmood and Abul’ala Maudoodi who, during their democratic struggle, remained within the ambit of Constitution. “Both the religious leaders never violated the law during their political career,” said the minister.
He said the use of sacred names for petty political gains should be finished for once and all as no legislation in Pakistan could be made contrary to the Islamic values. The Minister thanked print and electronic media for playing a positive role with regard to the WPB and said the media throughout the course of the passage of the bill informed the masses in an affirmative manner. To a question, Senator Durrani said the Ministry of Information is launching an awareness drive for the public, especially people living in rural areas regarding the WPA. He said the WPA would be observed in all over the country.