President's speech termed misleading

15 Jul, 2007

Pakistan People's Party (PPP) said the speech of President Pervez Musharraf relating to Lal Masjid operation was "misleading" and he failed to answer fundamental questions.
Commenting on the speech Provincial Vice President Malik Ahmed Hussain Dehar, District President Khalid Hanif Lodhi, City President Khurshid Ahmed Khan, Khawaja Rizwan Alam and Tariq Raza Khan said Pervez Musharraf claimed Lal Masjid had been an ammunition storehouse and it sheltered militants.
But he avoided the fundamental question as to who smuggled weapons into the madrasas and who allowed the militants to flourish for so long without being noticed by the state apparatus.
They said Musharraf had admitted innocent people were killed in the operation but failed to announce any compensation for the victims and rehabilitation of those who came out of the seminary. The PPP called for compensation for the victims and an investigation into smuggling of weapons, illegal occupation of state land by the Lal Masjid administration and the construction of the Jamia Hafsa madrasa on it.

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