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| 10 May 2004 | Monday | 19 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425 |
Shahbaz's plan intact: PML-N
LAHORE, May 9: The opposition Pakistan Muslim League (N) announced on Sunday that is president Mian Shahbaz Sharif would land in Lahore on Tuesday as scheduled, and would be warmly welcomed by leaders and workers of the PML(N) and other democratic parties.
The party said that Mian Shahbaz's return to Pakistan would falsify the government's claims that the Sharifs had left the country under an accord, and could not come back for 10 years.
The ruling PML-Q, on the other hand, said that Shahbaz Sharif was still 'confused' about his future plans and was not sure if he should return to Pakistan. Deputy opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly and PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah Khan said the PML-N president was determined to come back and the party would receive him despite all obstacles.
He said the former chief minister's return would be a big event. If the government let him stay in the country, which it was bound to do under the Supreme Court judgment, the party would benefit politically. But in case he was deported, the government would be violating the apex court's judgment, he said.
Rana Sanaullah said the turnout at the Lahore airport would not be as important as the return of the former chief minister. He said that when the government had made large-scale arrests, it would be a great success for the party even if a few hundred people could make it to the airport.
He pointed out that Mian Shahbaz had directed his party colleagues to be peaceful and not to create any law and order problem. Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi said on Sunday that Mian Shahbaz Sharif was still 'confused' about his future plans.
Talking to reporters at his residence, he said so far Mian Shahbaz did not know what he should do. In response to a question, the chief minister said there was no need for arresting Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) workers as 95 per cent of the party was already united in the form of the ruling PML-Q.
He said only a few people were left with the PML-N and there was no need to arrest them. About the imposition of Section 144, the chief minister said the decision had been taken by the district government.
He said that in other cities, places had been earmarked for processions and rallies. In Lahore, such activities were allowed only on the Minar-i-Pakistan lawns. The chief minister said no processions were allowed on The Mall and the government would not allow the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) to violate the restriction.
District Nazim Mian Amir Mehmud said the PML-N was not in a position to create any problem for the government. Devoid of public support, he send, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) was making preparations to receive their leader through the media.
The Nazim said the situation was under control and there would be no law and order problem on May 11. Meanwhile, Mian Shahbaz himself said on Sunday that he would land at the Lahore Airport on Tuesday as announced earlier.
In a statement issued on his behalf by his spokesman Farrukh Shah, the exiled leader said he was a Pakistani and would live and die in Pakistan.
RAIDS & ARRESTS: For the fifth consecutive day on Sunday, Punjab police continued raids to arrest Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) workers. The party and police made contradictory claims about the number of arrests.
Pir Binyamin Rizvi, the party's Punjab vice-president, claimed that police had detained around 1,000 Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) workers in the province. But a Punjab government spokesman termed the figure exaggerated and said 'only a few' workers who could hose a threat to law and order had been detained.
A majority of them, he added, were set free after they furnished assurance that they would not indulge in any activity to disturb law and order. This is not a matter of political victimisation. This is a matter of maintaining peace." No rally would be allowed on May 11, he added.
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