ISLAMABAD: The interim government on Tuesday decided to organise a ‘national conference’ on interfaith harmony next week, as Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq vowed to propagate the “true ideology and spirit” of the country during his government’s brief stint in power.

The decision to organise a moot to promote interfaith harmony came in the backdrop of the Jaranwala violence which caused the destruction of dozens of churches and houses belonging to the Christian community. According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Mr Kakar has decided to hold a national inter-faith harmony conference next week in which religious scholars will be invited from across the world.

During the meeting, the cabinet condemned the Jaranwala violence in strong words. Mr Kakar who visited Jaranwala on Monday and met the ill-fated families apprised the cabinet members about the situation in the city.

Furthermore, ‘Diyat’ amount for the financial year 2023-24 was increased to Rs6.775 million (equivalent to 30,630 grams of silver). In the last fiscal year, the compensation amount was Rs4.318 million.

PM vows to advocate ‘true ideology’ of Pakistan, says caretakers not here to alter govt structure

Speaking on the occasion, PM Kakar said the caretaker government’s prime mandate was to assist and monitor the electoral process. He said keeping in mind the prime mandate, the caretaker government would monitor its day-to-day activities to the best of its abilities.

“We are here as a constitutional continuation for a limited period of time and we are not here to design the government model or structure,” the prime minister said while addressing the cabinet meeting.

He maintained that as a continuation of the previous government, the caretaker set-up was generally supposed to carry on with the policies already in motion, until and unless there were any violations of rules or business.

“The National Assembly has retired and we are waiting for the new elections,” he said adding the second arm of parliament, Senate, was still there but it could not do legislation alone. He asked the cabinet members to come up with a work plan by taking briefings from their respective ministries and the next cabinet meeting agenda would be based on that work plan.

‘True ideology’

Speaking to the media after a visit to Mazar-i-Quaid in Karachi, PM Kakar said that his administration was not there to hold free and fair elections only but also propagate the “ideology and its true spirit” of the country.

The prime minister was accompanied by Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori, Caretaker CM Maqbool Baqir and the members of his cabinet. It was his maiden visit to Karachi after assuming office last week.

“We [caretaker government] are here only as an outcome of a constitutional requirement,” he said while addressing the state-owned media which didn’t pose any questions to him after the address. “We are here to assess and monitor the electoral process. We would put in our hundred per cent for fair and free elections which should be acceptable for all segments of the society. We wish and pray for peaceful and smooth completion of this transition phase.”

While recalling the mandate of his caretaker government, he also mentioned the defence of the country’s ideological boundaries under the August 11, 1947 speech of Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah before the Constituent Assembly.

“Along with this [completion of transition phase], we are also here to propagate the ideology of Pakistan and its true spirit under which this state came into being,” he said. “We need to discuss that social contract time and again under which this country was founded by Jinnah and [Allama] Iqbal.”

According to the prime minister, the ideology of Pakistan defined political and economic rights in the context of ‘state vs individuals’ not on the basis of ethnicity, religion, or community.

MQM-P meeting

Later, PM Kakar held a meeting with MQM-P leaders at the Governor House and assured them about the effort of his government to utilise all possible resources to address the issues faced by Karachi.

“In the meeting, the two [sides] discussed the country’s overall situation, economy, interfaith harmony and national matters,” said a statement issued by the Governor House. The delegation comprising Dr Farooq Sattar, Syed Aminul Haq, and Khawaja Izharul Hassan asked the PM to address the issues of delimitation in Karachi and water shortage, it added.

Imran Ayub in Karachi also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2023