President Pervez Musharraf warned foreign terrorists hiding in Pakistan’s mountainous tribal areas to leave the country or face the consequences. Speaking at a large public gathering on Wednesday, he said, “People come to Pakistan from outside – they are living in our mountains and spreading terror not just in Pakistan, but the world over.”He said that Pakistanis were living under the constant threat of terrorism, and although things were better in Sindh than the NWFP, the impact of terrorists’ presence in the country was being felt throughout Pakistan. “These people are endangering Pakistan’s image and its security and should leave, or they will be dealt with,” he said. Musharraf said that Islam was a religion of peace and there was not room for extremist and terrorist tendencies. “We have to check such tendencies, or the country cannot progress or develop,” the president said.
He urged the people to help the government in it fight against extremists and terrorists by cooperating with law enforcement agencies. He urged the people of Sindh to consider the possibility of building large water reservoirs to preserve the province’s water resources. “We are striving to provide water to all,” he said, adding that in the next two years, 30,000 water courses would be brick-lined to cut down on wasted water. “I will work equally for the prosperity of all four provinces,” he said.
The president also conducted the ground breaking of the Larkana-Khairpur Bridge, ordered the construction of a 15km road to link the bridge to the Indus Highway, announced Rs 100 million for the Larkana and Khairpur districts, announced the upgradation of the Chandka Medical College and the setting up of departments of cardiology and neurology at the civil hospital. The president said that the governmentÂ’s vision called for the provision of better health facilities to the people.
The president also addressed the concluding ceremony of the Golden Jubilee celebrations at the Cadet College Petaro, near Hyderabad. He emphasised the need for knowledge-based education in the realms of engineering, science and technology so they could play a part in the countryÂ’s progress and prosperity.
He said that the government was focussing on knowledge-based higher education and setting up nine universities - in collaboration with European and South East Asian countries – in all four provinces of the country. He also said that the government was committed to providing quality primary and secondary education to all and had increased the allocation for education to 4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).