‘Million-man’ march: Malik gives Dr Qadri go-ahead for rally

Interior minister says undisclosed venue has been agreed upon.

LAHORE:

The government agreed on Monday to let Minhaj-ul-Quran International (MQI) chief Tahirul Qadri hold a long march in Islamabad on January 14 – but on the condition that the venue will be decided with consensus, according to sources.

The two men held a three-hour meeting in Model Town Lahore, where they discussed the matter in detail. Later at a joint press conference, however, they merely informed the media that they discussed security issues and threats to Qadri.

Sources in the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and MQI told The Express Tribune that the ruling party will respect Qadri’s request to allow him to hold his rally. They added that Malik had conveyed a nod from President Asif Ali Zardari as well as some points on negotiations held with Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain.



Malik also informed the media that parliamentarians are currently working on electoral reforms, which are to be presented to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) – in accordance with one of Qadri’s wishes. Both leaders also said that the final venue of the long march will not be disclosed for now, although it has been decided upon. PPP sources said that the army has also urged the federal government to let the MQI chief go ahead with the march.

The interior minister clarified during the press conference that his meeting with Qadri was concerned with security threats, and not to negotiate with him to call off the march. He added that the home secretary and Islamabad commissioner will coordinate with two of the MQI chief’s representatives.

Malik also defended allegations against Qadri of being ‘undemocratic’, saying that his agenda is neither against the continuity of the democratic set-up, nor was it to postpone general elections. He added that he had discussed the matter with MQM chief Altaf, who also did not want to derail the democratic set-up.

When the MQI chief was asked if he would still hold his ‘million man’ march on January 14 if the government accepted all his demands before then, he said he would only negotiate with a delegation led by either the prime minister with his cabinet, or President Zardari.

Qadri added that before Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP’s) threats, his intention was to take out a long march for a revolution -- but that now, it would be for martyrdom.

The TTP spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan, however, denied that his group had any intentions of attacking Qadri’s rally while talking to AFP via telephone.

ASWJ against Qadri

Meanwhile, Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ) President Maulana Ahmed Ludhianwi lashed out at Qadri while talking to the media in Multan. The party chief said that the MQI chief came from ‘the same background as Raymond Davis’.

Ludhianwi said that Qadri was out to destabilise Pakistan, adding that the ASWJ itself had respected the interior minister’s wish to postpone their own long march. He said the Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC) would not take advantage of Qadri ‘blackmailing’ the government.

WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM AFP AND OUR CORRESPONDENT IN MULTAN

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2013.