ISLAMABAD, Feb 24: Chief of National Democratic Front (NDF) Air Marshal (retired) Asghar Khan has asked the government to reopen the Dhaka fall case and bring all those to justice who had brought about dismemberment of the country.

He was speaking to media persons at the central secretariat of NDF here on Thursday. Mr Khan termed the repeated military interventions into the country's politics as the major obstacle to flourishing of democracy in the country. "Unless those responsible for the dismemberment of the country in 1971 were brought to book, crises would continue to hit the country," he warned.

In response to a question, the NDF leader said there could be no free and transparent elections under the military and secret agencies. That's why any fresh elections would be a repeat of the 2002 elections in which the agencies had made "thieves and flatterers" occupy the assemblies, he added.

Taking part in elections being conducted by secret agencies and military amounted to inviting disrepute, which the NDF would never do in case fresh elections were conducted under the same setup, Mr Khan observed.

It was shame that in a country where clean drinking water and bread was not available to the people, the elected representatives were spending millions of rupees of the national exchequer on Hajs and Umras. The lavish spendings of the rulers and their life style showed as though Pakistan was a rich state, he added.

In reply to a question, Mr Khan said in 1977 he had written a letter to the GHQ urging the military to defy all those orders that violated the Constitution or the law. "My message to the army is still the same," he added.

Asghar Khan demanded restoration of the 1973 Constitution in its true form, establishment of an independent election commission, freedom of judiciary and end to the role of military in politics.

The NDF chief said he was organizing the front to get maximum rights for the provinces and restore the basic rights of the people. The nation was still ready to support those leaders who were sincere to their cause and the NDF would be converted into a strong political force soon," he maintained.