Sit-in damages country’s image abroad: Ahsan

Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday said the activities of Tehreek Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah protestors were damaging the image and supporting the stance of country’s enemies, who portray Pakistan as an unstable state.
The sit –in of TLYRA has been staged to pursue a particular political agenda which is to pitch the government against a particular sect, he was talking to media persons after inaugurating a Centre for Rural Economy of Planning Commission here.
Answering a question, he said the government has two options and one of them is to disperse the protestors by using force as our security forces had the ability to deal with such situation. The second option is to address the issue through dialogues which are still continuing on different levels. The minister said there were reports about presence of some miscreants among the protestors. The basic objective behind this long episode is to gain voters’ confidence as TLYRA has already announced to contest the forthcoming elections, he said and added that the government was avoiding Model Town (Lahore) like incident.
He said in NA 120 and NA 4 by elections this particular religious group was supported by opposition parties. “The government does not have any option to surrender. We know more groups would stage sit-ins in case irrelevant demands of ‘Dharna’ people are accepted.”
Ahsan Iqbal recalled that through legislation the law of Khattam-e-Nabuwwat has further been strengthened, saying this is not a political dispute and the government has already made the law stronger through legislation.
He said the law was not prepared by ministry of law and justice rather it was formulated by all parliamentary parties including the religious ones.
He said the ‘Dharna’ people through exploiting sentiments of people were promoting their election campaign.
Answering a question, he said there is no justification of resignation from Law Minister Zahid Hamid as the law was prepared by all parliamentary parties.
He said only Parliament has the authority to seek resignation from a cabinet member.
Earlier, addressing an inaugural ceremony of Centre for Rural Economy (CRE), Ahsan Iqbal, who is also Minister for Planning, Development and Reform said productivity, quality and innovation are the core conditions of competitiveness of an economy and drivers of economic growth and development.
He said the CRE would significantly contribute in a greater, greener and more sustainable type of growth.
Ahsan Iqbal maintained that innovative and quality-oriented economies are more productive, resilient and adaptable to change and better able to support higher living standards.
“Focus on productivity, quality and innovation can help in addressing economic, social and global challenges” said the Minister.
Minister acknowledged sincere efforts of government and said that it is playing a key role in fostering a sound environment for quality and innovation to overcome current challenges.
He further said Pakistan’s economy has improved with the recent efforts made by the government, while energy situation in the country has also registered great improvement amid controlling the load-shedding in the country. “The world now recognizes Pakistan as the next emerging success story,” he maintained.
“The Vision 2025 has been developed to foster a culture of change and transformation in the overall development scenario of Pakistan which is characterized by unprecedented change and complexity. There is great need for us to create new opportunities by utilizing our strengths” said the Minister.
He said Pakistan’s untapped potential provides calls for optimism whereby Pakistan could emerge as a great nation and economic power if resources are managed and used efficiently.
The Minister said that the target is set to create a road-map that puts Pakistan in top 25 economies of the world.
Keeping in view, the fastest growing and competitive world  around us, Minister concluded that it is the time to launch a new wave of productivity, quality and innovation based on a new concept of inclusive, shared and environmentally-responsible growth.
Chief Economist, Planning Commission, Nadeem Javed, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Project Director of CRE, Dr. Amir Irshad and Head of Rural Support Programme, Shoaib Sultan Khan also spoke on the occasion and highlighted salient features and objectives of CRE.
Later, Ahsan Iqbal inaugurated the Centre and distributed shields amongst the officials.

Source: APP