Tahirul Qadri acknowledges supporters at Minar-e-Pakistan. PHOTO: NNI
HYDERABAD:
Sindhi nationalist parties have turned down an invitation from Dr Tahirul Qadri, founder of the Minhaj-ul-Quran International (MQI), to join the January 14 long march to Islamabad.
The Sindh United Party (SUP) and Sindh Taraqi Pasand (STP) announced their decisions separately on Monday, a day after an MQI delegation approached them for support.
The parties, which are also a part of the Sindh Progressive Nationalist Alliance (SPNA), cited the active participation of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and a lack of clarity in the objectives of Dr Qadri as the reasons.
“The political forces which talk about electoral reforms, [want a] say in the caretaker setup and [seek an] end to feudal control of the government will have to change their minds first,” said Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah, president of SUP and convenor of the Sindh Bachayo Committee. “They will have to dissociate from a party which has a feudalistic mindset,” said Shah, while referring to the MQM.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 1st, 2013.
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DEMOCRACY!!!!!!!! what is democracy? is democracy the name of some personalities that rule using the existing system? is it something defined by west? is it sort of a formula or an equation? is it something static and doesn't change even with the will of the masses? i don't understand why the parties are so fearful and scared of this guy; shows their insecurity. one should understand the fact that if people are unhappy and not satisfied with the existing system, they will come out. the best way to avoid such thing is make the system workable or try another one. This process goes on and should go on until the system gets refined.
Yes , nobody should be forced to join the march . Every body is free to join any party . Nationalists are showing a inclination in a right direction . The emerging allience should also given a chance to show the strength . The march should be peaceful , any terrorist attack on the march will be very be costly to the unIslamic terrorist movement in the region .
This is an excellent step and it shows maturity of nationalists that they are pro-democracy and progressive forces. At this juncture, despite severe differences with current Govt, they are not ready to side with anti-democratic forces to derail democracy. However, they key ally of current PPP govt, MQM is standing not with Govt but other side. PPP also needs to rethink its policies to wards Nationalists. The take away from this news is that Pakistan is changing and nationalist forces can also play key positive role for democratic norms. Hats off to Sindhi Nationalists.