So this is what it comes down to…phony show? Mushrraf should see writing on the wall and leave for his own good with his head still on his shoulders.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\02\12\story_12-2-2008_pg7_4
Pro-Musharraf rally stays an enigma
** ‘Participants’ expecting to visit shrine
By Azaz Syed*
ISLAMABAD: Mnaka Pakistan, a little known political party, on Monday held a pro-President Pervez Musharraf rally at D Chowk, yards away from the Presidency.
Almost 500 young boys attended the rally, carrying placards and banners reading slogans in favour of Musharraf. They rallied to and fro on the Parade Avenue. However, the majority looked disassociated with the march. Some marchers shouted pro-Musharraf slogans and the rest stayed silent. People were brought from all over Punjab, especially from Faisalabad, Gujrat and Lahore. The participants held red and white flag of the party.
Mnaka Pakistan President Chaudhry Asghar Mehmood made a speech, attributing the country’s “progress and prosperity” to Musharraf’s policies. He said Musharraf should stay in power so that his “successful policies” could continue. He claimed that the rally was about 10,000 strong (read above for actual number) but he skipped many questions asked by journalists.
**
Trapped participants: “We were told that we will be visiting Bari Imam shrine. When we neared the Presidency, the trip organisers started shouting pro-Musharraf slogans, much to our astonishment,”** said Hasnaat Hussain, 25, who came here from Faisalabad.
**Ismail Ahmed, another young participant, said he neither liked Musharraf, nor his policies. “How come I support him (Musharraf)?” he questioned. He said he and his friends came here on a trip to visit Bari Iman Shrine, but the organisers had trapped them into the pro-Musharraf rally. Mohammad Bilal, Shahzad, Khuram and Munawar echoed the same views. All of them were unaware of the fact that they were going to rally in Musharraf’s favour.
**
Musharraf’s appealing promise: Muhammad Amjad Rabbani, the party’s secretary-general, told Daily Times that his party had opposed Musharraf for his extra-constitutional steps since October 12,1999, but then backed him because he had promised that youth could be members of the parliament at the age of 18. He claimed that the promise was made on his party’s demand.
He did not speak on judiciary more than saying that it was one of the state pillars. He said the party’s opponents were saying that the government had funded transportation of the rally participants from Punjab villages to the capital, adding he himself bore the transportation expenditure.
Asked why the participants were kept unaware of the purpose of their trip to Islamabad, he left the stage saying time was over.
