JEDDAH, 10 March 2008 — Zafar Choudhary, a member of the board of Overseas Pakistani Foundation, says that Pakistanis should honor the constitution and law leaving aside their political expediencies.
Speaking at a seminar “Pakistan and Future Demands” here recently, Choudhary said: “We have not been able to resolve our national issues despite the passage of over five decades. A working relationship among the four pillars of the state is the need of the hour to end chaos.”
Pakistan Journalists Forum (PJF) President Shahid Naeem said the country should be run in a way in which every citizen gets his due. “Though we’ve gone through an electoral process, the nation still faces a host of challenges, including power shortages, exorbitant price hikes, water crisis and many other issues,” he said. “The situation warrants wise decisions by the country’s leaders to solve the problems.” Naeem said expatriate Pakistanis were eager to see the country develop and prosper. The seminar, he added, was aimed at discussing ideas that could end chaos and political instability.
“Pakistan was created through a democratic means and it is our prime responsibility to safeguard its interests,” said another speaker, Rauf Tahir.
Tahir said Quaid-e-Azam (the founder of Pakistan) explicitly told the army to stay away from politics. Running the affairs of the country is the duty of the elected representatives not the army, said Tahir.
Dispute over rights and responsibilities have created chaos, said Ghulam Nabi Butt, chairman of the Kashmir Committee. People’s abhorrence of the government’s current policies has resulted in a silent revolution that has seen many stalwarts wiped off the political scene. “A strong Pakistan can resolve the issues of Kashmir and stranded Pakistanis,” Butt said.
Pakistan is passing through a very critical period of its history, said Altaf Hussain, president of Pakistan Writers’ Forum. “The situation demands that we solve our problems in the light of Islamic rules,” Altaf said.
