ISLAMABAD, April 19: Jailed president of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) Makhdoom Javed Hashmi has condemned the arrests of the workers and legislators of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) on the arrival of Asif Ali Zardari and termed it the worst kind of political victimization.

In a statement issued by the ARD president from Kot Lakhpat Jail and released by the PML-N Secretariat here on Tuesday, Mr Hashmi said the maltreatment of the parliamentarians had exposed the true face of the so-called enlightened moderation of the rulers.

Mr Hashmi, who is also the acting president of the PML-N, condemned the police action particularly against the women members of the PPP.

Mr Hashmi also condemned the maltreatment of journalists and senior columnist by the Punjab police at the Lahore airport. He said the police snatched cameras, audio cassettes and mobile phones from the journalists and kept them under custody for about four hours. He said the severe police action against the journalists showed that there was total dictatorship in the country.