KARACHI, Dec 15: Warning the nation that the country was facing a 1971-like situation, Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Altaf Hussain has called for restoring the rights of the provinces and outing an end to the practice of branding people seeking their rights as traitors, says a press release.

On the 34th anniversary of the fall of Dhaka, he asked politicians to pursue their political objectives, but maintain decorum and decency in their approach and policies. They should avoid using filthy language against their rivals and should not call them enemies of the state. They should observe a code of ethics.

Mr Hussain, who was talking to a group of students at the party's international secretariat in London, regretted that religion was being used to exploit people's sentiments and to pit brothers against brothers.

He said that instead of learning lessons from the 1971 tragedy, a policy of coercion against smaller provinces, like Sindh and Balochistan, and to some extent against the NWFP, was still being pursued.