ISLAMABAD, Aug 15: Naheed Khan, political secretary to PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto, has asked Gen Pervez Musharraf to remove his military uniform and contest elections against any PPP member from any constituency in the country.

Reacting to Gen Musharraf’s assertion that the popularity of PPP is fading, MNA Naheed Khan said Gen Zia in the past had also tried to crush the PPP and had meted out extreme atrocities against party leadership and workers, but all his dreams to quell the party were shattered.

In her statement, Naheed Khan stated that every dictator hallucinates that he is all powerful because in reality dictators are frightened of the popularity of people’s leader.

She said this was the reason that Gen Musharraf was creating hurdles in the way of Benazir Bhutto’s return to the country.

Ms Khan said Gen Musharraf, surrounded by security agencies, had no means to gauge the popularity of any political party. He should come out on the streets and only then will he find out that an overwhelming majority of the people was with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

The political secretary said there had been another dictator in Pakistan named Ayub Khan who had established his own functional league which vanished as soon as he was forced to leave power by the people. She said this assertion by Gen Musharraf proved that he was frightened of Benazir Bhutto and her party.