20 February 2005	Sunday	10 Muharram 1426

KARACHI, Feb 19: The Pakistan People's Party has condemned, what it called, 'victimization of political opponents by Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim', and urged human rights organizations to raise their voice against the policy of highhandedness pursued by the provincial regime.

In a statement issued here on Saturday, the PPP said that the latest example of political victimization was the case of an Engineer, Wali Mohammad Rahimoon, who resigned from the government service and announced his intention to mount a political challenge to the chief minister.

"Engineer Rahimoon, who belongs to the constituency of the chief minister, was picked up by police from his flat in Karachi at midnight the other day and four cases were filed against him. He was subjected to torture at the CIA Centre in Karachi," the statement claimed.

The PPP described the treatment meted out to Mr Rahimoon as a 'blatant and glaring' example of political victimization. Even the chief minister's colleagues in his party and government have been accusing him of resorting to torture and victimization of his opponents, according to the statement.

It alleged that Mr Rahimoon was being forced to change his loyalty and desist from challenging the "autocratic rule of Dr Arbab Rahim". -PPI