LONDON, July 18: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan have vowed to fight until final victory against “anti-democratic forces”.

The two leaders were speaking at a large public rally organised on Tuesday by the PTI in Manchester. They held President Gen Pervez Musharraf directly responsible for the increasing turmoil and growing militant violence in the country.

Mr Sharif revealed that PPP chairwoman Benazir Bhutto had promised him six months ago that her party parliamentarians would resign from the assemblies if Musharraf sought re-election from the present ones and termed it “unfortunate” that she chose to change her position during the MPC deliberations and refused to go along with its decision.

The PML-N chief assured the PTI chairman of his full support in the latter’s efforts to bring the MQM chief Altaf Hussain to book, and said his government had previously also taken action against Altaf Hussain by ending its coalition government in Sindh with the MQM in 1999 over the murder of Hakim Saeed.

Both Mr Khan and Mr Sharif called mohajirs “true Pakistanis” as they had relocated from India and had striven hard to make Pakistan strong. “Bengalis and mohajirs rank at the top of those who sacrificed the most and (we) salute them,” they added.

Mr Khan promised the audience that he would not rest until he had “unmasked the true face of Altaf Hussain”.

The PML-N chief said the only fault of the people in Jamia Hafsa had been that they had encroached upon some land while on the other hand Musharraf had been holding the entire nation hostage at gunpoint. “Now there should be action against him also,” he added.

Mr Sharif was quick to say that he had nothing personal against Musharraf or the army and in fact it was he who had saved the army from being internationally censured during the Kargil crisis.