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FAISALABAD, Jan 24: PPP leaders allege that the government is adopting negative tactics to pressure the party leadership owing to its increasing popularity. Speaking at a news conference here on Tuesday, PPP divisional coordinator Raja Riaz Ahmad (MPA), district president Rana Farooq Saeed Khan and city president Mahmoodul Hassan Dar called the warrants for the arrest of the PPP leaders nothing but a mockery of the judicial system and police.
They said the rulers were hoodwinking the nation through various measures like the Kalabagh dam issue, operation in Balochistan and U-turn on the Kashmir policy just to prolong their rule.
Lawlessness and unemployment were on the rise, they said, also regretting that the prices of commodities had skyrocketed in the last couple of years. They accused the ministers and advisers of providing wrong figures to the media and the public.
The PPP leaders said Benazir Bhutto would return soon and the party organizations were planning to give her a rosy reception. It would not succumb to the government’s tactics to demoralize the workers.
Commenting on the allegations former PML-N MNA Chaudhry Sher Ali had levelled against some PPP activists, they said he had manoeuvred his release from the NAB custody after striking a deal with the government. It included a written assurance of creating differences among the ARD factions, they said.
They charged Mr Sher Ali with making the opposition leaders issue statements against each other so that the ruling party could be strengthened in Faisalabad.
They said the PPP leaders with the help of the PML-N’s had bagged the all-important seat of City District Nazim and nazims of Jaranwala and Jinnah towns, which bore testimony to the fact that Faisalabad was a fort of the opposition parties.
They claimed that Sher Ali had planted Khalid Saeed Gill in the PML-N fold and forced the ARD leadership to nominate the latter as candidate for the Iqbal Town. However, he again struck a deal and received Rs2.5 million from the ruling party candidate in Iqbal Town to help him succeed.
They further claimed that the PML-N leaders, including all its local parliamentarians, had no links with Sher Ali because of his connections with the government agencies.
As for district naib nazim candidate Sheikh Yousaf’s joining the PML, the PPP leaders said he had taken an oath on the Holy Quran thrice that he would remain loyal to the PPP. But he had backed out of his word owing to personal gains as well as threats from the government agencies.
SHISHAM TREE: Federal Environment Minister Tahir Iqbal has said that a comprehensive strategy has been chalked out to save shisham tree from the die-back menace and cover losses within the next five months.
Speaking to the participants of a meeting held here at the Punjab Forestry Research Institute, the minister said some work on shisham and its diseases had been conducted during the previous years to find out the causes and their cure.
He said following the recommendations of the experts, completely disease-hit trees would be uprooted while 20 to 30 per cent affected trees would be medicated through a well-prepared plan.
He said disease-free shisham seed had been imported from Nepal which would be distributed among tillers.
Special television programmes would be telecast to create awareness among the people about the protection of trees and saplings.
Talking about the environmental programmes of the government, the minister said an amount of Rs10 billion had been allocated by the federal government for provision of potable water to people of major cities.
Special water treatment plants would also be installed in Faisalabad and its adjoining parts to resolve the issue of brackish underground water, he added.
