Nawaz hits out at Dr Qadri over his ‘long march’ plans

Says few thousand people should not usurp right of 180 million.

PESHAWAR:

Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif, while hitting out at influential scholar Tahirul Qadri for his scheduled ‘million-man’ march, said on Friday that parliamentary elections will not be postponed at any cost.

A few thousand people would not be allowed to usurp the right of 180 million people of Pakistan, Nawaz told journalists in Peshawar after offering condolences to the Bilour family over the death of senior provincial minister Bashir Bilour.

It is lamentable that Dr Qadri is asking the poor to give away all their savings so that he could hold a huge rally, said Nawaz. “We will never allow this to happen in the country,” he added. The PML-N manifesto is to bring prosperity in the country and not to ask people to give away their savings, he added.



Nawaz questioned Dr Qadri’s use of religion to collect donations for his rally. “While we are careful even to call ourselves servants of Islam he (Dr Qadri) openly declares himself ‘Sheikhul Islam’”.

Lashing out at the Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) for supporting Dr Qadri, Nawaz said their decision was not understandable since both parties are allies of the ruling coalition.

“It is hypocritical of both the MQM and PML-Q to support the rally. They should decide whether they support President Asif Zardari or Dr Qadri,” he added.

Also speaking on the occasion, Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, the elder brother of late Bashir Bilour, said that he did not know who was behind Dr Qadri’s rally. However, he added the “long mach” would not achieve its objectives.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2013.