January 25, 2008	Friday	Muharram 15, 1429

SHIKARPUR, Jan 24: Sindh People’s Legal Aid Committee chairman Pir Mazharul Haq has said that the caretaker government has implicated 600,000 workers and local leaders of the Pakistan People’s Party in false cases pertaining to burning and damaging public property during violence after the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Speaking at a press conference at Qazi House on Wednesday, Mr Haq, who is a PPP candidate for the Sindh Assembly from Dadu, said 54 cases had been registered against more than 17,000 workers and leaders of the party in Shikarpur district.

He accused the government of resorting to political victimisation to keep PPP workers and supporters away from election campaign.

He said he would submit a report to the People’s Lawyers’ Forum after conducting a survey of the cases so that assistance could be provided to the leaders and workers in legal proceedings and in filing bail applications in the anti-terrorism courts.

He said President Pervez Musharraf has lost trust of the western countries as well as in his own country as he not only failed in resolving national issues but also damaged constitutional, democratic and moral values by suspending the Constitution and fundamental rights.

He alleged that the caretaker rulers were supporting candidates backed by the previous government and nazims were running their election campaigns in every district, particularly in Sindh.

He said the chief election commissioner was not empowered to conduct polls independently because he was a retired judge enjoying the post with the blessings of the government. He called upon journalists, intellectuals and patriotic people to launch a movement to force the government to restore the usurped rights and democracy in the country.