September 30, 2007	Sunday	Ramazan 17, 1428

LAHORE, Sept 29: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal President Qazi Husain Ahmad has called for observing a black day today (Sunday) to condemn violence against lawyers and journalists and attack on the Supreme Court.

Blasting the police excesses against journalists, lawyers and political workers outside the Elections Commission of Pakistan in Islamabad, the Qazi in a statement on Saturday urged upon the people to come out against the dictatorship of Gen Pervez Musharraf and his henchmen who had put everything at stake for staying in power.

Civil liberties were being violated and the judiciary, lawyers, political workers and journalists targeted.

He said the MMA supported the call given by the journalists for observing a black day against the police action outside the ECP and rejected the apex court verdict on the president’s dual office. He said six judges had tried to get rid of the issue instead of giving a verdict on it.

The Supreme Court should not have heard the petition for days if it was not maintainable, he said, adding that the MMA would file a review petition in the apex court against the dismissal of its petition with a plea that it should be heard by the full court.

The MMA president said the government was panicked and using every tactic to implement the US agenda. “Gen Musharraf is determined to dismember the country for remaining in power. And bulldozing of the Constitution and flagrant violations of civil liberties and democratic values has shown that neither the judiciary was free nor has the law of necessity been buried”, he deplored.

He said the MMA feared dismissal of its petition against the dual office when its plea for hearing by the full court was not accepted. The dismissal of petition had shown that a majority of the Supreme Court judges were under influence of Gen Musharraf and the establishment. There was no justification for declaring the petition non-maintainable after hearing arguments for 15 days, he made a point.

He said the All Parties Democratic Movement legislators would hand over their resignations to their party leaders on Sunday for submission to the speakers of the respective assemblies on Oct 2. The NWFP chief minister would give an advice for the dissolution of the assembly to the governor the same day. The assembly would dissolve automatically even if was not dissolved by the governor, said the Qazi.

MJAH: Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith President Senator Prof Sajid Mir, who is also the MMA vice-president, said the police action against lawyers and journalists gave an impression that the government had been allowed to target the media and lawyers, along with political workers after the court decision.

The government was raising slogans of media freedom on the one hand and suppressing freedom of expression by violence against the journalists on the other. The country was at a crossroads, he said, but the guardians of law of necessity were standing guard at the doors of hope and justice.

PML-N: Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Waheed Baig said the journalists had been targeted at the behest of Federal Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani. The minister was also present at the time of attack on GEO TV and no notice had been taken of the AAJ TV incident.

The policy of confrontation devised by the incompetent advisors to Gen Musharraf had pushed him into a blind alley, the PML-N leader said.

PPP: Pakistan People’s Party Deputy Information Secretary Sajjad Bokhari said the police brutality against journalists and lawyers had exposed the government claims about freedom of expression and democracy.

“The rulers have proved that they do not believe in freedom of expression, human rights and democracy and are determined to solve every problem by force”, Bokhari said, and added that the people had woken up and their determination to protect their rights would lead the rulers to their doom.

PNCP: The government had lost support of the people and was trying to conquer them by sheer brute force, Pakistan Christian National Party President M Joseph Francis said while joining the condemnation. But, he added, its efforts to suppress dissent would not bear fruit.