Is it possible for PTI to launch a movement with PPP? 

‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ on Monday

Kamal says PSP public meeting made a huge impact on the people

KARACHI: The opposition has gained an extra momentum after Imran Khan’s address at the public meeting on Sunday. Imran Khan had said at the public meeting on Sunday that the opposition would begin its movement from Sindh where rallies would be taken out, said Shahzeb Khanzada on the Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ on Monday.

Shahzeb said a PTI leader, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, met PPP leader Khursheed Shah on Monday after which the two leaders announced the plan of action.

Shahzeb said that if one analyses the PTI’s position on the PPP, one clearly notices that Imran Khan had in the past said a lot of things against the Sindh government, the alleged corruption in Sindh, against Zardari and even against Khursheed Shah. Is it possible for the PTI to launch a movement in collaboration with the Pakistan People’s Party?

What decisions are likely to be made at the meeting of the opposition on May 2? What other terms does the PTI want to see added to the ones which have already been announced by the government?

Shahzeb said that Imran Khan had said that he didn’t mind being the first to go through the process of accountability if the government accepts his demand of formation of the inquiry commission under the leadership of the Chief Justice of Pakistan.

“Mian Sahib, we won’t let you influence the umpire, and we won’t let you to escape the process of accountability,” Imran Khan said at the public meeting on Sunday. In the backdrop of Imran Khan’s statement, Shahzeb Khanzada asked Shah Mahmood Qureshi, “The umpire this time round is the one you have demanded. You had demanded the commission to be headed by the Chief Justice, and Mian Sahib obliged you by writing to the Chief Justice. So the umpire is of your choice, and he has all the authority. Call anybody to appear before the commission. Call any firm of the accountants to appear before the commission. All your (PTI’s) demands have been accepted, but Imran Khan is still adamant. What actually does Imran Khan want?”

Responding to Shahzeb Khanzada’s question, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the PTI wants to see the kind of TORs that are acceptable to everyone. The government has not consulted the opposition on the TOR. Qureshi said the commission the government had formed under the 1956 act will have limited authority. He said the opposition wants consultation on the TORs so that a commission was formed that had authority.

Qureshi said that only when the government listens to the opposition’s point of view will it (the government) understand what the opposition wants. The PTI leader alleged that the government is not comfortable on discussing these matters with the opposition. “We are beseeching the government to at least listen to our point of view,” said Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

The PTI leader said that though his party had its own point of view, yet what the opposition would say on the matter was something that had to be the opposition’s unanimous standpoint. In this regard, it has been decided that the opposition parties would meet for consultation on the TORs on May 2. Once the opposition has agreed on the TORs, it would then be in a position to talk to the government.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi said, “We rejected the proposed commission after consulting the opposition. We had contacted the opposition parties who were unanimous in their views that the government’s TORs were inappropriate.”

Shah Mahmood Qureshi said his party believes that those who have had their loans written off must also be held accountable, and that the PTI would not obstruct this, but the accountability process should begin with the prime minister. He said that various political parties have various kinds of people, and anybody who has been accused of corruption, no matter what party they belong to, must be held accountable.

In a different segment of the programme, Shahzeb Khanzada, while commenting on the public meeting of the Pak Sarzameen Party, said that Mustafa Kamal and his associates did succeed in holding their party’s first public meeting. Mustafa Kamal had vehemently criticized the MQM chief in his press conferences, but he chose to exercise restraint vis-à-vis the MQM chief in his first address at his party’s first public meeting.

Shahzeb Khanzada asked Mustafa Kamal on the programme that the show was impressive if one considers the fact that it was arranged by a party that is only 31-day-old, but if one goes by the claims that had been made before the public meeting, especially the one made by Anees Qaimkhani, saying that the meeting was going to be a huge public meeting, then one thinks that the turnout of the people was not as good as had been projected by the party before the public meeting.

In response to Shahzeb’s question, Mustafa Kamal said that everyone has their own way of looking at things, but as far as he was concerned, he thought that the public meeting succeeded in making a huge impact. There were a huge number of people present at the public meeting. “We have given all the Pakistanis a pleasant surprise through Sunday’s public meeting,” Mustafa Kamal said.

“We raised the battle cry against the present day pharaohs on March 3. It was followed by thousands of people coming together, and then hundreds of thousands of people responded to our call by coming to the public meeting yesterday (Sunday),” Mustafa Kamal said.

He said he has been very impressed by the courage that the people of Karachi exhibited by coming to the public meeting in such a large a number that the crowd filled every nook and cranny of the venue of the public meeting.

Mustafa Kamal said that they had not held the public meeting solely to criticise the MQM chief. "Mohajirs’ interests lie in their close integration with Pakistan and with the people of Pakistan." He said that there was a time when Mohajirs produced generals, chief justices, lawyers, businessmen, bureaucrats and scientists like Abdul Qadeer Khan.

Referring to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Mustafa Kamal said that the MQM has alienated the Mohajirs in the country.

“I will keep preaching to the Mohajirs to forge a very strong bond with other Pakistanis. I will also urge all the Pakistanis to nurse the wounds of the Urdu-speaking people, and treat them like any other Pakistani. Mohajirs are neither RAW agents nor are they uncivilized people. They are a very civilized and patriotic people,” Mustafa Kamal said.

He said that there are confessional statements regarding the MQM chief’s and some of his associates’ links with RAW. It is mandatory on the State to pass its judgment on MQM’s relations with RAW, he said.

In a still different segment of the programme, Shahzeb Khanzada, while commenting on the murder of Soran Singh, said that the murder has become an enigma. Although the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has owned the murder yet the police insist that the murder was the result of some political rivalry.

Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry, while talking to Shahzeb Khanzada on the programme, said that Pakistan is the current chair of the Heart of Asia Conference. He said that a session of the Heart of Asia Conference will take place in New Delhi, where the international community jointly made decisions about peace and welfare of Afghanistan. The dialogue that Pakistan has with India concerns bilateral relations only, and it is not about Afghanistan.

The foreign secretary said that Pakistan wants to see peace in Afghanistan. Peace in Afghanistan is beneficial to Pakistan and to the region. Pakistan is working with its utmost sincerity for peace in Afghanistan.