Ghafoor’s a well respected politician, there has never been any allegation of corruption against him and he was not into using physical force against people if it could be avoided. His warning to Mush should be lsitened too.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_23-6-2003_pg3_5
- JI wants early resumption of govt-opposition talks
- Some MMA components don’t want any compromise with Musharraf
- Power rests with Musharraf, not Jamali
- Musharraf had very good relations with the Taliban
- It was a wrong decision to join Zia’s cabinet
- MQM is doing everything to make the city government a failure
Prof Ghafoor Ahmed, naib amir of Jama’at-i-Islami, is a highly respected politician. He was the secretary general of Pakistan National Alliance, the nine-party anti-Zulfikar Ali Bhutto alliance. He was one of the ministers in Ziaul Haq’s cabinet, a decision which he regrets openly today. According to him, he has tried his best to stop Muttahida and its rival Haqiqi from killing each other’s men. His views often conflict with that of Jama’at’s official views. Daily Times’ Karachi resident editor Sarfaraz Ahmed spoke to him on a variety of issues. Following are the excerpts:
Daily Times: Qazi Hussain Ahmed has said the Jama’at would agree to giving General Musharraf one year in uniform if he agreed to its 17-point charter of demands.
Prof Ghafoor Ahmed: This decision has been taken by Jama’at’s Majlis-e-Amal in view of the protracted political crisis in the country. The party is for an immediate end to this crisis. It wants to see an early resumption of talks between government and opposition. As far as the party’s 17 points are concerned, these are very much in the constitutional domain and the president should not make the constitution more controversial.
DT: But who has created the deadlock? The government holds the opposition responsible.
PGA: It’s the other way round. It’s the government’s sheer stubbornness, their disregard for the sanctity of the constitution, democracy and democratic norms. The opposition was told that Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali would hold talks with the opposition. In the meantime, General Musharraf, [Prime Minister] Jamali and some other ministers made adverse remarks against the opposition. They are not giving the opposition any respect. For the first time in the history of Pakistan the federal budget has been passed in just five days. The opposition was expecting that there would be another round of talks and the treasury and the opposition would also contribute to the budget debate.
DT: Do other MMA components support JI’s charter of demands?
PGA: Some component parties of the alliance have a very rigid stance towards [General] Musharraf. They do not want to give even a single day to him. However, the combined opposition, including the PML-N and the PPPP, has agreed to go by the majority decision.
DT: Don’t you think that a no-confidence motion against the National Assembly Speaker will deepen the crisis?
PGA: I don’t think the motion would aggravate the crisis. Look at what Mr Speaker has done. He has committed an illegal and unconstitutional act. He has made himself highly controversial. He appears to have given his ruling on LFO under some pressure. As far as the no-confidence motion is concerned, it will only send a message across to make the treasury realise the opposition’s strength.
DT: What do you see happening in the near future?
PGA: I have seen a lot of changes in this country. It all depends on [General] Musharraf. How he behaves upon his return from the UK and the US. The power rests with [General] Musharraf, not with [Prime Minister] Jamali, and the opposition has rightly decided that this time it goes into direct talks with [General] Musharraf. Even India seems to be fully aware of this and it has announced that it will hold direct talks with him [General Musharraf]. I’m afraid the crisis will aggravate if he is not serious in resolving it. The people will take to streets.
DT: General Musharraf says the opposition cannot rally people’s support against him. He says the people’s participation in MMA’s rallies on Iraq was ‘something different’, ‘something entirely different’.
PGA: Please do not forget that similar utterances had also been made by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He had also under-estimated the opposition’s strength. But what happened once he dissolved the assemblies. His action gave birth to a popular uprising against him. I can’t predict anything, but [General] Musharraf must draw lessons from ZAB’s fate.
DT: Your party has a record of supporting the army. You supported Zia’s referendum, your party was part of the government and you were a minister in Zia’s cabinet…
PGA: That is true, but let me put the record straight. It was not Jama’at’s decision to send ministers to Zia’s cabinet. The decision was taken by the PNA [Pakistan National Alliance]. Yet, it was a wrong decision. I shouldn’t have become a minister in Zia’s cabinet. The decision was the result of protracted, six-month-long talks between the PNA and Zia’s government over the restoration of democracy. Zia said that he wanted to muster the support of the political parties to begin the political process. He was not getting support from the major political forces. He wanted the PNA, particularly the Jama’at, to go along with him so he could restore democracy.
DT: But you also supported Zia’s referendum…
PGA: The Jama’at shura [consultative body] left the decision to the people. It neither supported nor opposed the vote. In fact, Prof. Mehmood Azam Farooqui [also from the Jama’at], who was information minister and I did not vote in the referendum.
DT: How do you look at the government’s efforts to encounter the Al Qaeda threat?
PGA: What is Al Qaeda? Musharraf is doing all this to please US. The US itself is surprised to see so many Al Qaeda suspects being spotted and arrested in Pakistan. In most of these cases, courts have released people for lack of evidence. It was the army that once supported the Taliban. Even [General] Musharraf had very good relations with the Taliban.
DT: How do you look at the current Sindh assembly session where the opposition was censured for creating highly disorderly scenes?
PGA: The government is not in a mood to tolerate the opposition or accept its existence. In fact, it has been more indecent in its behaviour. For example, the senate or upper house of parliament comprises more sober and educated people than people in the provincial assemblies or local councils. But the government has even treated the opposition senators shabbily. They stood up for six long hours in protest in the senate, but the chairman continued to give a contemptuous smile to the members. The PPPP, which is the single largest party in the Sindh province, was denied its right to form the government. The political crisis in Sindh is mainly because of this anomaly.
DT: How is the MQM doing as a key coalition partner in the Sindh government?
PGA: Please put this question to General Musharraf.
DT: Has there been any change in the MQM’s ways of working?
PGA: I believe the new face of the MQM is more violent. Look at the MQM’s role in the case of the by-election to NA-255. The entire state machinery is hell-bent on getting an MQM man elected. From the MQM governor to the entire administration, they are all harassing and intimidating the political opponents.
DT: There has been a perception that you have always had a soft corner for the MQM’s splinter group known as Haqiqi. Is it true?
PGA: I had a soft corner for both the groups. In the early 90s when the two groups were busy killing each other’s activists, I approached them and urged that they should end the vicious cycle of killings. Afaq, the Haqiqi chairman, assured me that he was ready to enter into an agreement with his rival group for the sake of Karachi’s peace. But the Muttahida chief Altaf Husain sent me a message that there could be no conciliation with traitors.
DT: You blame the MQM for destroying Karachi’s peace. What do you say of the Jama’at’s student wing, Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, which is credited with introducing armed groups such as ‘Thunder Squads’ in the city’s educational institutions?
PGA: The MQM is responsible for the killing of thousands of people. They were killing the people of other parties and groups. Later, they fought among themselves. They are the ones who introduced the Kalashnikov culture in the educational institutions. We never allowed our people to take up arms. The Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba has been here for 50 years. Prior to the MQM and its student wing, the Jamiat had been in a sort of confrontation with some pro-socialist and pro-communist students’ groups. But the two sides used to address issues in a democratic way through negotiations, not through exchange of fire.
Their participation shows that they accepted the rules of the game. 
Hail Shariah Bill but does growing a beard will make the difference in the society? No thanks, I can do that without a beard.