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Musharraf: We Are Either A Theocratic Or A Progressive Nation
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| Pakistanis
(left) and Indians (right) watch Musharraf's televised speech on Saturday.
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ISLAMABAD,
Jan 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Pakistan's President, General Pervez
Musharraf, told the world in a televised speech Saturday that Pakistan has to
choose between becoming either a theocratic state or a progressive, dynamic
Islamic nation, news agencies reported.
"The
day of reckoning has come," he said, in his address which was dubbed as a
"historic speech" in Pakistan and in which he banned two Kashmiri
resistance groups blamed by India for the December 13 attack on its parliament.
He
warned his country would meet any aggression from its neighbor with "full
force", reported Agence France-Presse (AFP). He announced a crackdown on
three other local Muslim groups and on religious schools, being accused of
'breeding terrorism'.
Hours after the speech, police arrested around 300 people from the five banned
groups in central Punjab province after sealing their offices, a police official
said, AFP reported.
"The
president spent a large part of the speech justifying the bold actions to his
citizens, saying they were vital for ensuring stability and progress, while
taking care to avoid being seen as bowing to international pressure,
particularly from India," said AFP.
Nevertheless,
the move to ban the Lashkar-e-Taib and Jaish-e-Mohammad groups accused by New
Delhi for the deadly attack on its parliament was welcomed by the United States
and others.
Musharraf also had a few tough words aimed at India. He vowed there would be no
softening of Pakistan's stance on Kashmir, the divided territory that has been
the cause of two of the three wars between the nuclear rivals since independence
in 1947.
Traditionally strained relations between the two nuclear powers plummeted even
further after the December attack. India later demanded the extradition of 20
militants as well as the closure of training camps and arms supply routes of
Pakistan-based militant groups.
But
Musharraf reiterated he would never hand over any Pakistani citizens on the list
of 20 "most wanted" alleged terrorists.
"The question to hand over any Pakistani does not arise. We will never do
it," Musharraf said.
With
an estimated total of 800,000 troops from both countries massed on their common
border, Musharraf had a warning for Indian Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee.
"Pakistan's
armed forces are fully deployed to face any challenge. They will sacrifice their
last drop of blood for the defense of the country," Musharraf said.
"Do not try to cross the border from any area because we will retaliate
with full force," he warned.
The
Indian government said it was studying the speech "very closely" and
would respond officially on Sunday.
But
spokesman for India's ruling BJP Party, D.K. Malhotra, said Pakistan had to
follow words with deeds. "It should not remain mere words."
The
United States and the United Nations were among those who welcomed the
condemnation of terrorism from a key U.S. ally in the war in Afghanistan.
"The
United States applauds the banning of Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and
welcomes President Musharraf's explicit statements against terrorism and
particularly notes his pledge that Pakistan will not tolerate terrorism under
any pretext, including Kashmir," US Secretary of State, Colin Powell said.
U.N. Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, welcomed Musharraf's emphasis on
"tolerance, the rule of law and the need to fight terrorism and
extremism," he said, through spokesman Fred Eckhard.
Musharraf said previous steps to stamp out what he called "religious
violence" at home had been ineffective. "Everyone of us is fed up of
it. It is becoming unbearable," he said.
"The
day of reckoning has come," he warned, saying the country faced a choice
between becoming a theocratic state or a progressive and dynamic Islamic nation.
Musharraf
also banned the Sunni group Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan and Shiite counterpart
Tehreek-i-Jafria Pakistan.
Also
outlawed was TNSM (Tehreek-i-Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammedi), which sent thousands of
volunteers to Afghanistan to fight side by side with the Taliban. The group is
based mainly in the northwestern tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
Musharraf also announced new regulations to prevent madrassas (religious
schools) being used to espouse sectarian and so-called "religious
extremism".
He
said the previously unregulated religious schools would be governed by same
rules and regulations applying to other places of education.
"If
any madrassa is found indulging in extremism, subversion, militant activity or
possessing any types of weapons, it will be closed," he said.
However,
newly banned group Lashkar-e-Taib was one of the first to express defiance,
vowing its jihad, or holy war, would continue in Indian-administered Kashmir.
"The
government of Pakistan has no right to ban us as we are a Kashmir-based group
fighting against the Indian forces and we will continue our jihad (holy
war)," Lashkar spokesman, Abdullah Sayyaf, said.
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