KARACHI, Jan 27: Speakers at a meeting on Saturday pointed out that fair and free elections were impossible under General Musharraf’s rule and demanded impartial caretaker setup for elections.

Speaking at the All-Parties Conference on ‘Law and order in Sindh and Musharraf Government’, organised by the Jamaat-i-Islami at Idara Noor-i-Haq, they said it was a positive sign that all opposition parties had agreed to get rid of the present rulers and hold free and fair elections so that the masses could elect their true representatives.

JI leader Prof Ghafoor Ahmad said the government had miserably failed to maintain law and order in the country and Friday’s bomb blast in the highly sensitive zone of the federal capital was its glaring proof.

He said the opposition would not let down the masses and would play its due political role in librating the masses from the clutches of the rulers. He said kidnapping incidents had increased manifolds and police were brutally suppressing the people who wanted to raise their voice. Even the journalists had been beaten up when they were performing their professional duties after Islamabad bomb blast.

The Pakistan People’s Party’s leader, Prof N.D. Khan, said terrorists were ruling in the city and though the chief minister was present, real powers were being exercised by the governor, which was otherwise a ceremonial post. He said sectarianism was being promoted and efforts were being made to create tensions between various provinces. He said army would have to return to barracks.

Former governor Mamnoon Husain said the self-imposed military rule had destroyed almost all institutions and all the real issues being faced by people remained unsolved. He said lawlessness was on the rise. Law enforcement agencies were being used to kill its citizens in Wazirstan and Balochistan.

Mir Nawaz Khan Marwat said recruitments were being done on political considerations while qualified youngsters were running from pillar to post for jobs.

Basharat Mirza, Dr Mairajul Huda Siddiqui, Aslam Ghauri, Rashid Rabbani, Khan Mohammad Baloch, Nusrat Mirza, Amanullah Khan, Afzal Sardar, Lateef Ameem Shibli and others also spoke.

The meeting was attended among others by the leaders of the PPP, JI, PML-N, Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan, Jamiat Ahle Hadis, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, PDP, Pakistan Awami Tehreek, Muslim Rabita Council, PML (Qayyum group).