KARACHI, Jan 10: The Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan-Markazi has demanded free, fair and transparent elections under an independent election commission comprising those judges who had declined to take oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order. It has also demanded setting up of a caretaker government consisting chief justice Pakistan and judges from all four high courts before commencement of the electioneering.

The demand came at a meeting of the party held here on Wednesday with its President Sahibzada Haji Fazal Karim in the chair.

Sahibzada Karim, who is also a central leader of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy, called for allowing heads of all political parties to return home and participate in the polls.

Addressing a press conference at Qasr-i-Naz after the meeting, he slammed enactment of the women protection bill, and demanded that the second bill submitted to the parliament on the subject also be withdrawn.

He said the party had decided to hold ‘Sunni Conference’ on March 25 in Lahore on protection of the Pakistan ideology with the aim of “foiling the rulers’ designs to impose western culture on the country in the name of enlightened moderation.”

Referring to Indian Premier Manmohan Singh’s remarks that “the day is not far when breakfast will be in Amritsar, lunch in Lahore and dinner in Kabul,” he said that the dream reflected his pursuance of Akhand Bharat agenda as had been desired by Jawaharlal Nehru soon after Pakistan came into being.

“Mr Sindh had the audacity to say this because our rulers have been pursuing a policy of appeasing India by keeping on retreating from their stance on various issues,” he observed.