15 April 2005	Friday	04 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD, April 14: The People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) on Thursday accused the government of launching a massive crackdown against the party activists and leaders in various parts of the country but at the same time showed its willingness to continue reconciliation talks with the government. “In politics, doors for negotiations can never be closed,” said PPP Secretary-General Raja Pervez Ashraf while speaking at a news conference with opposition leader in the Senate Raza Rabbani, MNAs Syed Naveed Qamar, Zamarrud Khan, Yasmin Rehman, Fauzia Wahab and Senator Farooq Naek.

“Holding of talks does not mean that the government has the authority to violate our constitutional and democratic rights,” the PPP secretary-general said when asked whether the govt’s recent actions to stop the party from holding a welcome reception for Asif Zardari could affect the ongoing reconciliation process.

Opposition leader in the Senate Raza Rabbani said the PPP was holding talks on the restoration of genuine democracy and this purpose could only be achieved by holding free and fair elections. He said the PPP’s agenda was very clear that democracy could only be restored by removing the 17th Amendment from the Constitution. He said the PPP had held talks with the government on “various levels” and claimed that it had always apprised the people about the progress in the talks through media.

Earlier, Mr Rabbani said Gen Pervez Musharraf would be visiting India at a time when his government would be busy in carrying out violation of fundamental and human rights in the country. He was of the view that talks with India, which was a big democratic country, could only be successful when there would be complete democracy in Pakistan.

Mr Rabbani condemned the government for arresting a large number of party workers from various parts of the country to stop them from receiving Asif Zardari in Lahore on Saturday. He said the government’s recent action had exposed its claim that there was democracy in the country.

He termed the police raids on the houses of party MNAs and office-bearers as “state terrorism.” He said it was strange that on one hand, the government had allowed Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) to hold million marches while on the other, it was not ready to allow the PPP workers to receive their leader at the airport. He said it had been proved that the ARD was the real opposition in the country.

Mr Rabbani told the reporters that the government had removed four railway wagons from Allama Iqbal Express and two wagons from Awam Express, which had been booked by the party to carry the workers to Lahore. He also condemned the statement of the Punjab chief minister that the government would register cases against the PPP men under Anti-Terrorism Act. He said the PPP was familiar to such tactics as it had stood firmly against the military dictator Gen Zia.

Mr Rabbani also told reporters that he and Amin Fahim had boycotted the meeting of the parliamentary committee on Balochistan to protest against the arrest of party activists in a large number.

MNA Zamarrud Khan said the transporters, who had agreed to provide vehicles to them on April 16, had refused to fulfil their commitments due to the government pressure. The MNA said the administration had directed the managements of all the private transport services that no bus or coach would ply between Rawalpindi and Lahore on April 16.

Fauzia Wahab claimed that the Punjab government, through a circular issued to all the police stations, had directed the police to arrest all those people having any affiliation with the PPP. She also said the government had threatened the transporters that their permits and licences would be cancelled if they provided vehicles to the PPP on April 16.

Raja Pervez Ashraf said the party workers would show a trailer to the government on April 16 and the film would be run when Benazir Bhutto would return to the country. Mr Ashraf said that they would reach Lahore on Saturday in any case and the party leaders were not afraid of going to jails.