Nishtar Park tragedy: religious parties flay PPPP's 'soft' stand

Religious political parties have criticised Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) for its poor stand against security lapse on the part of the Sindh government on the occasion of Eid Milad-un-Nabi (peace be upon him) in Karachi when a bomb blast in Nishtar Park killed more than 47 people.
Talking to Business Recorder, the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) leaders in the Sindh Assembly on Tuesday said that PPP members were paying only lip service to the tragedy of Nishtar Park. They said that the alliance of political parties to create a united opposition in the Sindh Assembly was week and ineffective as each faction pursued its interest.
They said they would not like to disclose their names while criticising the PPPP, as they wanted the opposition to remain united and serve the cause of democracy. "We do not want to be singled out for our outspokenness," they added.
They said that the PPP was trying hard to reach a compromise deal with President General Pervez Musharraf and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) before the next general elections.
In the coming general elections, if held in 2007, they said, there would be an attempt to bring PPPP, MQM and PML-Q as close as possible so that the President was given fresh mandate to rule for another five years. They said that the President would shed uniform even during his next tenure.
Religious leaders said the MQM was in power and it should explain why the security measures were so week that the suicide bomber could reach the stage where entire leadership of the Jama'at Ahle Sunnat was assembled to offer Maghrib prayers.
They said that it was not a suicide bomber, who killed people but it was bomb blast that hit hard people and killed scores of them.
They said that the Sindh government was responsible to protect people whereas it had failed in its functions. "The government should reign en block," the added.
In the opinion of these religious leaders, the PPPP did not condemn the incident and tried to keep itself at a distance from the controversy.
They said that the PPPP would distance itself from its partners and align with those who mattered in power game. "They have disappointed us on this occasion," they said. They said that the religious parties would play their cards carefully and would not let anyone ditch them. They said that the killing of the innocents at the Nishtar Park was pre-planned and some of the political parties might be behind this gory incident.