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| July 19, 2007 | Thursday | Rajab 03, 1428 |
KARACHI: PPP sees emergency move behind blast
KARACHI, July 18: The blast at the reception camp of Pakistan People’s Party in Islamabad that claimed over a dozens lives was a conspiracy hatched to postpone the general elections by imposing emergency in the country.
This was stated by Sindh PPP chief Syed Qaim Ali Shah while holding the government responsible for it.
“PPP Sindh chapter is deeply grieved over the barbaric incident in which a number of party workers were killed and over 65 injured,” he said, adding that the blasts for five consecutive days was an ample proof that the government had failed to restore peace.
The PPP leader said that hidden hands were involved in such blasts, who were conspiring to postpone the general elections, so that they could accomplish their “sinister designs”.
Mr Shah asked the government to resign forthwith and hold fair elections through an independent Election Commission to transfer the power to the true representatives of people.
Awami National Party provincial chief Shahi Syed and general-secretary Muhammad Amin Khattak have condemned the blasts in Islamabad, Swat, Wazirstan and Dera Ismail Khan.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, they alleged that the rulers were trying to impose emergency in the country. They said the rulers were playing a dangerous game that would harm the country and the situation might get out of their control.
The rulers were planning to delay the general elections to extend their illegal rule for another year though they had miserably failed to control terrorism and unrest in country, said Salim Zia Advocate, the acting president of Sindh chapter, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz).
It was a matter of the past when the courts were used under the doctrine of the law of necessity, he said, suggesting the rulers to get prepared for an exit.
Mr Zia said the army should return to barracks and defend the borders, as a dictator could not be allowed to rule 160 million people. He said only a leadership, elected by the masses through independent, impartial, free and fair elections, had the right to rule the country.—PPI
A meeting, organised by the Karachi Women Peace Committee and attended by several NGOs working for national development, observed that the Islamabad blast was a strong wake-up call for the government, political leadership, civil society and religious scholars to avoid infighting, adds a reporter.
Expressing deep concern over the situation prevailing in the country in the wake of Lal Masjid tragedy, the women said it was mishandled by the government. Had the issue been tackled appropriately at the very onset, the killings of innocent people in the mosque and seminary could have been avoided.
They said the role played during the last six months by the government and political parties was highly questionable that multiplied the public miseries. The government as the sole enforcer of law should have acted promptly after the failure of the initial dialogue when the Lal Masjid clerics assumed an obdurate and intransigent posture.
Denying the media and general public right of access to information during and after the ‘operation silence’ was a grave mistake that led to tension and polarizations, they said.
The women also came hard on the political parties that failed to announce a joint declaration on the national issues and the Lal Masjid operation. Besides, they showed their discontent over the statement of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain regarding postponement of general election and the possibility of emergency.
The Sindh Bar Council (SBC) on Wednesday condemned the suicide bombing in Islamabad -- which allegedly targeted Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry -- and termed it a conspiracy to sabotage the lawyers’ movement.
During a meeting chaired by vice-chairman SBC Mohammad Ameen Lakhani and attended largely by members of the council, the SBC passed unanimously adopted resolutions asking the government to pay one million rupees to the heirs of each victim, release all political prisoners, hold free and fair elections and return the army to the barracks.
Speakers warned the government that the legal fraternity would not fall prey to any conspiracy and pledged to carry on the movement for judicial independence, the rule of law and the strengthening of democratic institutions in the country.
Amongst the people attending the meeting were Aaqil Lodhi, Noor Naz Agha, Mehmood-ul-Hassan, Mohammad Ali Abbasi, Ghulam Nabi Shaikh, Abdul Haleem Siddiqui, Iftikhar Javaid Qazi, Abdul Sattar Qazi, Ghulam Qadir Memon, Muzzafar Leghari, Khwaja Mansoor and Haji Shafi Mohammad Chandio.
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