August 5, 2005	Friday	Jumadi-us-Sani 28, 1426

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ISLAMABAD, Aug 4: The People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) leaders have accused the government of planning to kill former managing director of the Printing Corporation of Pakistan Pir Mukarram Shah, who has been languishing in Mianwali jail on corruption charges.

Speaking at a news conference here on Thursday, former Sindh law minister Pir Mazharul Haq, MPA from Punjab Farzana Raja, MPA from Sindh Marvi Mazhar and Central Information Secretary of the PPP Taj Haider said if anything bad happened to Pir Mukarram Shah, the party would lodge criminal cases against Gen Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi.

Children of Pir Mukarram Shah were also present in the press conference and they appealed to the media to highlight the “plight” of their father to bring the matter to the knowledge of human rights bodies.

MPA Farzana Raja, who is the wife of Pir Mukarram Shah, said that the doctors had recommended that her husband should immediately be shifted to a hospital as his medical condition had worsened. She said they had made several requests to the Punjab government to shift Pir Mukarram to any hospital, but it was paying no heed. “I want to draw the attention of the international human rights organizations that the life of my husband is in danger,” Ms Raja said.

The PPP MPA said she would not quit the party in any case and would remain loyal to party chairperson Benazir Bhutto despite all negative tactics of the government. She said that in her recent visit, she had also apprised the UK and the US governments about the ongoing “political victimization” of the opposition.

MPA from Dadu Marvi Mazhar said it seemed that a particular family of Sindh was being victimized due to their affiliation to the PPP. She said the party leaders were not afraid of going to jails and as they had suffered such tactics in the past too. However, she said, they were raising the issue as the life of a person was in danger.

Pir Mazharul Haq, the elder brother of Pir Mukarram, said the party did not recognize accountability courts being run under the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). He warned Chaudhrys of Gujrat against taking extreme steps for politically victimizing the opponents. “Tomorrow, you (the Chaudhrys) can also be dragged in Sindh jails,” he said.

Pir Mazhar, who has recently returned from exile, also criticized the government for alleged pre-poll rigging in the local government polls. He alleged that Federal Minister for Water and Power Liaquat Jatoi had threatened to the people of Dadu that if they did not vote to the ruling party candidates, then their electricity could be suspended.

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