MULTAN  -  MMA President Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Friday termed the arrests of political workers in the name of accountability just ahead of elections dirty tactics of the establishment and bureaucracy, saying the situation forced him to think that unseen powers wanted postponement of the elections.

“These dirty tactics are meant to block the way of democracy, but we’ll stand in their way like an iron wall,” he declared, addressing a public gathering at Qasim Bagh Stadium. He maintained the accountability and arrests of political workers were a conspiracy to create anarchy in the country. He said the politics of abuse and obscenity was Western agenda. But I want to tell these foreign powers that their dreams will never come true. We’ll get our country freed from the clutches of India-Israel alliance,” he declared.

He said the nation should decide its future and representatives. He added the coming elections were not a test of candidates but the voters because they needed to get rid of those who were imposed on the country for the last 70 years. They ruined the country, its economy and society, he stated. “We’ll abolish interest-based financial system, meet the trade deficit, get the country out of clutches of the IMF and the World Bank and protect our youth from obscenity,” he declared. He said the nation could not afford any new experiment after 70 years and needed to choose eligible leadership. He said the MMA had given the option to bring forth true and appropriate leadership.

He pointed out that India blocked our water, committed water terrorism against Pakistan and hatched a conspiracy to turn it into a desert. “Despite naked Indian water terrorism, our rulers failed to fight and present our case in international court and lost it,” he regretted. He said it was unfortunate that no one told the nation about the importance of vote in last 70 years. He said ballot was a weapon. “If a voter uses it in favour of bad people, it helps bad powers to overcome and vice versa,” he noted. He said the MMA highlighted the importance of ballot and made the people aware of worth of vote.

He declared the MMA would highlight ideological importance and identity of Pakistan in the world, adding it was very important because Pakistan was created in the name of Islam. He said that secular powers posed as if the country was a secular land, but the MMA would thwart their conspiracies and foil secular system.

He said: “The country is facing serious threats due to American hegemony as a result of which even our neighbours like Afghanistan and Iran are not our friends. India is our enemy while China too has reservations. We claimed we will resolve the Kashmir issue, but we do not have any policy.” He suggested that all political parties and the parliament needed to be on the same page to resolve the Kashmir issue.

He said the nation needed to unite to uproot menaces like terrorism, sectarianism and religious extremism. He said the protection of Khatm-e-Nubuwat ideology was integral part of our faith and our responsibility. He said the former government attempted to amend Khatm-e-Nubuwat declaration. He claimed PTI’s Shafqat Mahmood had disclosed that the amendment was made at behest of Imran Khan.

Speaking on this occasion, MMA Secretary General Liaquat Baloch said enforcement of Nizam-e-Mustafa was their destination, adding they wanted supremacy of the Quran and Sunnah in the country. He warned if anyone had a plan to postpone the elections on the pretext of terrorism, he should correct his mind. He asked judiciary, the Election Commission, caretaker government and security institutions to strengthen their nerves and play their role for holding free, fair and transparent elections on time. He said that a neat and clean democracy was solution to all problems faced by Pakistan. He said the current wave of terrorism in the country was highly condemnable, but it was final phase of this war and the nation could defeat terrorists through unity.

He averred the cancer of corruption badly harmed the country and weakened its foundations. He said yesterday’s leaders were arrested today for corruption. He affirmed that South Punjab was under the clutches of landlords and waderas, announcing the MMA would get this region freed from their clutches. He said that we needed to implement ideology of Pakistan and Objectives Resolution for steering the country out of prevailing crisis. He warned the US, Israel and India had formed an alliance against Pakistan and only an eligible leadership could block their way.

He declared that the MMA government would offer healthcare, education and employment facilities to the people besides ridding the country of foreign debts.

He made it clear that elections were the only option to change the leadership and any extra-constitutional step like judicial martial law would create further problems. He said the country was facing problems like shortage of healthcare and education facilities as well as unavailability of employments while on the other hand the rulers gave the country gifts like loans, interest and status quo. He pointed out that the farmers were facing serious financial crisis and failed to get appropriate prices of his produce. He said that construction of new dams had become inevitable for the country while creation of new provinces in terms of administrative units had also become very necessary.

MMA Punjab President Mian Maqsood Ahmad said that 90 percent people of Pakistan wanted enforcement of Islamic code as they had rejected liberal and secularism. He declared that the people would reject those who betrayed Kashmiris and looted national wealth on July 25.

Allama Syed Taqi Naqvi, Kh Moeenuddin Koreja, Allama Arif Hussain Wahidi, Muhammad Khan Leghari, Asif Mahmood Akhwani, Qari Ahmad Mian and others also spoke on this occasion.