ISLAMABAD, 15 June 2004 — President Pervez Musharraf called upon the peoples’ representatives yesterday to play a more proactive role for improvement of law and order by promoting sectarian harmony and religious tolerance in their respective constituencies.
He made these remarks while talking to 16 parliamentarians, who called on him at the president’s house in two separate groups.
The president underlined that it was the duty of every Pakistani, particularly the elected representatives to counter religious extremism, negate incorrect perceptions against Islam and promote the moderate face for Pakistan.
Musharraf said that it is equally important that the people’s representatives should contribute to the strengthening of democratic institutions in the country.
He said that Pakistan has achieved economic stability.
For the first time in the history of the country a record amount of 202 billion rupees has been allocated for the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) in the federal budget and the fruits of economic prosperity are being passed on to the common man, he pointed out.
In this context, he asked the people’s representatives to oversee progress of the developmental schemes and projects in their respective areas so that the masses could be benefited. He added that inputs of the parliamentarians were essential for the identification and launching of developmental projects.
The president assured the parliamentarians that measures would be taken to promote greater harmony among the MNAs, MPAs and the representatives of the local bodies.
The devolution process, he said, was meant for giving more representation to the people and for the benefit of the common man.
During the meeting, the parliamentarians freely exchanged views with the president and highlighted various problems being faced by the people in their constituencies.
They expressed their total support for the measures being taken for ridding the country of the scourge of terrorism, extremism and sectarianism.
They said that the elements causing harm to the country by terrorist acts and disturbing the peace should be dealt with by an iron hand.
Those who attended the meetings included Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob, deputy speaker of the National Assembly, Amanullah Khan Jadoon, Omer Ayub Khan, Sardar Shah Jehan Yousaf, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Malik Amin Aslam Khan, Malik Allah Yar Khan, Mrs. Eman Waseem, Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain, Chaudhry Ghias Ahmed Mela, Chaudhry Anwar Ali Cheema, Mazhar Ahmed Qureshi, Ms. Sumaira Malik, Malik M. Saifullah Khan Tiwana, Muhammad Sanaullah Khan and Rashid Akbar Khan.
The meetings were part of an ongoing consultative process in which the president has been regularly interacting with representatives from all walks of life including businessmen, religious scholars, students and members of the intelligentsia.
Blast at Fireworks Factory Kills Four
A fireworks factory set up in a family home exploded in eastern Pakistan, killing four people and wounding three others, police said yesterday. Police were still investigating what caused the blast late Sunday in a residential area in Faisalabad, an industrial city about 300 kilometers east of Multan, police official Abid Zafar said.
He said all the dead and injured belonged to the same family. Zafar said the blast shattered the windows of other nearby houses, but gave no other details.
Accidents at firework factories are common in Pakistan and are often caused by poor safety procedures in the storage of explosives.
