Military operations alone not to solve problems: Kamal

Democracy must not be restricted to certain offices in Islamabad; powerful UCs to be as effective as NAB; Karachi city will be freed of RAW agents

KARACHI: Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) chief Mustafa Kamal on Sunday said military operations alone will not solve the country’s problems but would create a space for the government to practice good governance.

Addressing the first ever public meeting of his newly-launched party at the Bagh-e-Jinnah here, Kamal said they wanted such a society where political affiliations or difference of opinion should not lead to enmity with each other.

He vowed to work for the promotion of peace and tolerance in the port city. Kamal said his party was breaking records, as it had attracted ‘hundreds of thousands’ of people within 31 days of its birth.

He said the world was witnessing for the first time that a political party in Pakistan was organising a rally where the party had no flag of its own but with Pakistan’s flags all around.  “It is a historic day which will be remembered for a long time,” he added.

Kamal said if democracy was to prevail in the country then it needed to reach out to the masses instead of being restricted to certain offices in Islamabad. He said local communities must benefit most from the system. 

“We cannot be patriots if we are unable to provide clean drinking water to our people. It’s necessary to ensure that people get the basic facilities through the union councils, as it is not the duty of MNAs and MPAs to provide grassroots-level facilities to the people because they are elected for legislation.”

He said no progress could be made unless local governments were empowered in the country.  “Even if 20 provinces are formed in the country while maintaining the same system, it will be of no use,” he added.

Kamal said the people of Pakistan should be given power to make their choices. He said the UC members were asking for strengthening the local government system. He said corruption in the country had not been curtailed for the last 60 years.

“If the union councils have authority these can be as effective as the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), he said. He said millions of rupees were mismanaged every year under the guise of development funds. He said a door-to-door campaign would be launched in order to increase awareness among the people.

He said Karachi would be made even more glorious than it was before. He said the city would be home to patriots and there would be no divide on the basis of language.  “We will make Karachi a city free of RAW agents,” he stated. He said corruption could be curtailed through the steps chalked out by his party.

Another leader of Pak Sarzameen Party, Anis Qaimkhani, said after the Karachi rally the party would also hold rallies in Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta and other cities. Meanwhile, talking to media on Sunday, he said the central office of PSP was under construction and would be opened soon.