KARACHI, Sept 8: Chairman of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy Makhdoom Amin Fahim has called upon democracy-loving people to observe nationwide strike on Friday which, according to him, is a first step towards banishing ‘dictatorship and military rule’. “We want to banish military rule forever and we will not accept any general to replace Musharraf. We want power to the people and supremacy of elected parliament,” he told a news conference at the residence of People’ Party Parliamentarians leader Nafees Siddiqui on Thursday.
“The present regime has mortgaged and endangered Pakistan’s sovereignty, turned the country into a police state and pushed the people to the wall. The sooner this regime is done away with, the better it will be for the country’s integrity”, said Mr Fahim.
Emphasizing that the strike would be peaceful, he said the opposition parties had been forced to take that course because all efforts within and outside parliament had failed to compel the regime to respect rights and aspirations of the people.
Asked what would be strategy of the opposition if the government launched a crackdown, Mr Fahim said it would further strengthen the opposition’s resolve. ”We are not afraid of such anti-people tactics of the regime.”
Accompanied by Jamaat-i-Islami Senator Prof Ghafoor Ahmad and representatives of the ARD components, Mr Fahim criticised economic policies of the government and said frequent price hikes of essential items, including POL and utilities, had become unbearable.
More and more people were committing suicide while many more were being killed due to a breakdown of law and order, he said.
He said claims of economic progress were misleading because benefits of the so-called success story of the regime had not trickled down to the people.
The ARD chief was supportive of the concept of local body elections but said the polls should not be held in the manner in which they were recently held when rigging and use of strong arm tactics by the regime were its hallmark.
Referring to ‘massive pre-poll and poll-day rigging and ballot stuffing, the Makhdoom accused the government of violating the code of conduct and tailoring laws to the advantage of its candidate while the election process was on.
He recalled ‘the use of police to kidnap and torture opposition candidates to compel them to the either withdraw their candidatures or join the official bandwagon’.
Answering a question, he said the opposition had contested the polls, despite provocations, to expose ‘the regime’s unrepresentative and dictatorial credentials’.
He said ‘Gen Musharraf should thank police who acted to cover up his weaknesses through massive rigging’. He cited instances of rigging and excesses by the ruling party.
He referred to an incident in Matiari where ‘an Awam Dost candidate was beaten up and forced to go around the town after being stripped off his clothes by the ruling party supporters in the presence of police’.
That morning, he said, PPP supporters Haji Ali Murad Rajar and his son Raza Mohammad Rajar were seriously beaten up and injured by armed hooligans of the ruling party.
The ARD chief said there was no hope for free, fair and transparent elections under Gen Pervez Musharraf.
Professor Ahmad said the regime had distorted the 1973 Constitution, and vowed to restore it to its original status with the help of other opposition parties.
