15 May 2004	Saturday	24 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

HYDERABAD, May 14: Awami Tehrik chief Rasool Bux Palijo has said that the Musharraf government is planning to sideline the two major political parties of the country.

Speaking at a news conference at the press club on Friday, he demanded that People's Party leader Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, Shabaz Sharif and Altaf Hussain should be allowed to return home and plans to hold fake elections should be abandoned to save the country from further disaster.

AT leaders Abrar Qazi, Dr Nazir Shaikh and Qadir Ranto were also present on the occasion.

He said that if the past experience of the Election Commission was any guide, a landslide victory was going to be engineered in favour of the general's party.

He feared that Sindh would be robbed left, right and centre, its remaining share of water would be taken away and dams would be constructed on the Indus River.

Mr Palijo, who is also the president of Sindh Water Committee, apprehended that since there was no water to fill the reservoirs, Sindh's resources would be misappropriated in the name of Islam and Pakistan.

He said that the Sindh government would be handed over to dummies and 'terrorists' to a greater extent then now.

He warned that a great havoc was about to be played with Sindh and Pakistan out of which they would never be able to come out.

Mr Palijo condemned the deportation of Shahbaz Sharif in a James Bond like commando operation and said that though he was not an icon of democracy himself.

He said that a race was going on between new and permanent 'lotas' of the Establishment to curry favour with 'bosses' to share the loot and plunder. He said that all this indicated that elections would be held soon to cobble together a less shaky government.

He said that the military government headed by Gen Musharraf has had a serious problem of legitimacy and acceptance.

Mr Palijo pointed out that Pakistan had broken up into the two parts, thousands of Pakistanis were butchered and despite the Hamoodur Rehman Commission report, not a single general responsible for the holocaust was punished.

He dwelt at length on acts of malfeasance and misfeasance of the past and present military regimes and concluded that their crimes were much bigger and damaging than those of politicians' corruption.

Mr Palijo said that it should not be Gen Musharraf's business to take sides with one political party against the other or with one province against the other or favouring one project over the other.

He demanded that the Kargil fiasco should be discussed and those responsible for it be punished. He further demanded that full text of the Hamoodur Rehman Commission Report should be published and those responsible for the East Pakistan debacle should be prosecuted.