KARACHI, March 15: The Sindh chapter of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy has asked the provincial government to step down because it had allegedly failed to deliver and had become a security risk for the people.

A meeting of the ARD held at the residence of senior vice-president Sardar Rahim’s under the chairmanship of Zain Ansari demanded that a judicial commission be constituted to look into the allegations and counter allegations levelled by the Chief Minister, Dr Arbab Rahim, and Imtiaz Shaikh.

Briefing journalists after the meeting, Mr Ansari said that 150 million people of the country were being crushed by the tyrannical government, which had increased the cost of living, made more people jobless, significantly reduced the purchasing power of people, and increased inflation, besides making the common man’s access to utilities rather impossible.

The meeting also deplored the law and order situation and noted that street crimes were also on the rise.

The meeting was of the view that as a result of the seven-point agenda of Gen Pervez Musharraf, centrifugal forces had become strong and people were pitted against each other.

The meeting held that by advocating the Kalabagh dam issue, the regime was in fact conspiring to plunge the people in a diabolical conflict. It also deplored the military regime for ignoring the assembly resolutions in this regard.

The ARD also took serious notice of the federal information minister’s remarks against Dr A.Q. Khan and asked the government to stop insulting national heroes to please its foreign masters. It also demanded Shaikh Rashid’s resignation.

The meeting also demanded that the military returned to the barracks and handover power to real representatives of the people.

The ARD meeting also slammed the government for Dr Shazia’s rape at Sui and also of Mukhtaran Mai, and maintained that such incidents only reflected the government’s total disregard for maintaining sanctity of the “chadar aur chardevari”.