July 02, 2007	Monday	Jamadi-us-Sani 16, 1428

ISLAMABAD, July 1: People’s Rights Movement (PRM) has demanded an immediate end to military dictatorship, which, it said, had failed to solve people’s problems, especially those living in Karachi, Balochistan, Waziristan and the federal capital.

PRM, which is struggling for the restoration of democracy and rights of oppressed people, held an ‘open corner’ meeting at the Aabpara Chowk and decried the state’s failure in providing protection to its citizens all over the country, especially those who had been hit by the recent rain and floods in Karachi, Balochistan and the NWFP and the army operation in Waziristan.

Hundreds of students, teachers, doctors, intellectuals, lawyers, journalists, workers and ordinary people participated in the meeting. They also chanted anti-military slogans. A short skit, celebrating the lawyers-led movement for democracy and the independence of the judiciary, was also performed on the occasion.

They also condemned the government for making false claims of a pro-poor budget, saying it was an “elitist budget” like the previous ones.

The chief organiser of the Movement, Asim Sajjad Akhtar, said that the shameful events of the past week following torrential rains and winds in Karachi and the coast of Balochistan, have confirmed the complete inability of the state to fulfil its most important function of protecting the lives of its people.

Neither adequate preventive measures were taken to prevent deaths and destruction nor did the government respond appropriately after the devastation had hit the people, he lamented.