MMA announces schedule of mass contact drive

Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) on Monday decided to launch a 'mass contact movement' to force President Musharraf quit both the offices.
The religious alliance would hold public gatherings, meetings, rallies and demonstrations throughout the country to exert pressure on Musharraf to step down both as president and army chief.
MMA has also decided to take along Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) with its movement at any cost, MMA leader Liaquat Baloch told Business Recorder here after the meeting of the Supreme Council of the six-party religious alliance.
But it was learnt that some of the ARD leaders like Anwar Bhutto and Sardar Yaqoob Nasir had objected the idea of launching joint movement with MMA.
During the ARD parliamentary party meeting held earlier in the day, these leaders came out with the view that MMA could betray the alliance, as it did on the issue of Legal Framework Order (LFO) early this year.
The ARD sources told Business Recorder some leaders suggested that alliance should ask MMA parliamentarians to submit their resignations with a third party as guarantee for not backing out this time.
But ARD Chairman and Pakistan Peoples Party leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim told the meting that PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto had asked him to launch joint struggle with MMA.
The top central and provincial leaders of MMA from all its six component groups participated in the meeting.
As part of its 'mass contact movement' against Musharraf, MMA would hold public rallies on November 28, December 5, 12 and 19 in Karachi, Multan, Lahore and Rawalpindi respectively, Liaquat said.
Besides, during the holy month of Ramazan, he added, the religious alliance leaders would remain in touch with public to seek support for their campaign against Musharraf.
"We will be holding Iftar parties for being in touch with public at all levels and have signalled to religious leaders to create mass support against Musharraf in Friday congregations," Liaquat said.
The meeting has also decided that MMA secretary general and opposition leader in the National Assembly Maulana Fazalur Rehman and NWFP Chief Minister Muhammad Akram Khan Durrani would not participate in the second National Security Council (NSC) meeting scheduled to be held on October 22.
It is worth mentioning here that both the leaders, who are the members of NSC, did not participate in the maiden meeting of the council, terming it as supra-constitutional body.
"As Musharraf has backed out on his commitment to shed uniform, likewise, we will not participate in the NSC meeting," Liaquat said.