07 December 2004	Tuesday	24 Shawwal 1425

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ISLAMABAD, Dec 6: The jailed acting president of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, has called upon all political parties to unite on one platform and pledge under oath that they will not hold talks with military rulers and the establishment.

Talking to his daughter Maimoona Hashmi in Adiala Jail here on Tuesday, the acting PML-N president termed the reports of his party's deal with the "military rulers" a part of the propaganda campaign of the government to damage the ongoing struggle for the restoration of democracy.

Mr Hashmi expressed the hope that the people of Pakistan would not believe in this propaganda. He categorically ruled out the possibility of any "deal with the anti-democracy rulers."

Mr Hashmi said the PML-N had declared the rule of Gen Musharraf "illegal and illegitimate" from the day one when he overthrew the elected government of Nawaz Sharif on October 12, 1999. He said there had been no change in the stand of the party and they would not accept Gen Musharraf as the country's president with or without uniform.

The PML-N acting president said any deal with the military rulers would be a death warrant for the democratic forces. He said the party's struggle was not against any individual but for the supremacy and sovereignty of Constitution, parliament and democracy.

Meanwhile, a source told Dawn that Maimoona Hashmi briefed her jailed father about her meetings with party chief Nawaz Sharif and president Shahbaz Sharif in Jeddah. Ms Hashmi returned from Jeddah on Monday morning after staying there for about one month.

A senior PML-N leader, on condition of anonymity, told Dawn that the government had contacted the party and "offered to strike a deal" for the release of Mr Hashmi.

He, however, did not elaborate about the nature of the contact. When asked about the reports of Maimoona Hashmi's secret meetings with the representatives of the military establishment and Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, he said he would neither confirm nor deny such reports.