Lawyers to observe Iftikhar Day on 31st Jan.

The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) on Monday called upon all provincial bar councils, bar associations and members of the bar across the country to observe ‘Iftikhar Day’ on Thursday (January 31), to express their support to the cause of independent judiciary and rule of law. In a press statement, Mirza Aziz Akbar Baig, the PBC vice-chairman, asked the lawyers to arrange protest rallies, meetings and demonstrations on Thursday. “The legal fraternity reiterates its pledge to continue struggle for the restoration of deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and all other judges of the superior courts, who did not take oath under illegitimate Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO),” he added.

NewQuettaHotel: I think civil society(specially students),media and power hungry politicians should also join the effort.

A big question mark on the performance of so called religious parties—->Specially Maulana Diesel Group(JUI-F)

 MQM musters support from Deobandis—->Daily Times

By Fareed Farooqui

KARACHI: Mufti Mohammad Naeem, the Mohtamim (head) of Jamia Binnoria Al-Almiya and other religious seminaries affiliated to it, has announced their support for the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in Elections 2008.

“The religious parties secured votes in the name of Islam in the Elections 2002. The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) who led the MMA did nothing in the interest of Islam and religious voters,” Mufti Naeem told Daily Times on Saturday.

Giving reasons for his decision to support the MQM, Mufti Naeem lashed out at the MMA’s two leading parties, saying that their legislators preferred perks instead of defending the Islamic interests of the Pakistani constituents.

He said that the religious parties had failed to deliver what they had promised to the people of their constituencies. The JI and JUI-F instead played B-team for Pervez Musharraf for the last five years, he alleged.

According to the country’s top cleric, the Federal and provincial ministers and CDGK representatives, on the other hand, had offered their services to the common citizen. A large portion of voters of religious parties was settled in Karachi but had no representative to go with their problems. “A few days earlier, we had contacted City Nazim Mustafa Kamal, who had responded quite positively by visiting the Jamia,” he said. “We appreciate him for his kindness as he issued directives on the scene for all the issues to be resolved.”

It was useless to caste votes in the name of Islam because all the religious parties had duped their voters, Mufti Naeem argued. Securing votes on behalf of religious parties was simply a deception and drama, he added.

During his visit, Kamal had said that the Jamia had the ability to offer the best doctors, engineers and scientists to the country. He assured that efforts would be made to make the Jamia a centre of excellence.

Mainstream Deobandis remain under the influence of Jamia Binoria of Binori Town. A majority of senior and elderly scholars have always supported the MMA parties and in particular the JUI.

Mufti Naeem’s Jamia is situated in SITE and he has tilted towards the MQM or the government in the past. Therefore, it is hardly surprising that has made public his supports for the MQM.

The Altaf Hussain-led MQM enjoyed the support of a faction of the Deobandis in the local council elections in 2005. So far, however, the mainstream Deobandi centre has yet to make public its elections policy. In general, it remains neutral in political affairs but Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai and his colleagues had overtly and actively backed the MMA in the 2002 Elections. His group believed in the unity and cohesion of Muslims irrespective of their different schools of thought.

NewQuettaHotel: Maulana Diesel ki politics nai Deeni Jamaaton kai tasawur ko nuqsaan pohanchaia hai yeh usi ka unjaam hai.