September 14, 2002	Saturday	Rajab 6, 1423

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NEW YORK, Sept 13: The Pakistan Muslim League and the People’s Party protested outside the United Nations building on Thursday while President Gen Pervez Musharraf was addressing the General Assembly.

A few dozen workers of the two parties gathered near the media entrance, chanting slogans and holding placards that urged the president to restore democracy and step down.

“We reject amendments to the Constitution,” said a placard, and another suggested that the reforms proposed by the Musharraf government would further strengthen dictatorship.

They also urged the United States government to use its influence to allow former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif to return home and contest the forthcoming elections.

CHRISTIANS: Another group of Pakistani Christians also protested outside the hotel where Musharraf addressed a large gathering of Pakistani nationals living in the US.

They were protesting against the forced eviction of peasants, mostly Christians, from the military farms in Okara where they had been living since 1913.

Federal Information Minister Nisar Memon tried to convince them to disperse but they rejected his request and instead urged him to go home and protect minorities.

“Christians are being massacred in Pakistan while our rulers go around attending receptions in America,” shouted a protester.

Inside the hotel, a Christian guest interrupted Musharraf’s speech and urged him also to talk about the plight of the Christians in Pakistan.

“We have done more than any previous government to protect minorities. We demolished the separate electorate system. We have arrested those involved in sectarian violence. We are doing more,” the president stressed.