HYDERABAD, Nov 8: The Sindh Democratic Forum (SDF) has said that irresponsible steps by military rulers have isolated the country in the region and fuelled hostility towards Pakistan among its neighbours.

In a press statement issued on Wednesday, the leaders of SDF Abrar Kazi (convener), Zulfiqar Halepoto (secretary), Muhammad Ibrahim Joyo, Nazeer Memon, Dr Nazi Shaikh, Aslam Baloch and A.A. Qureshi said that the step had caused great embarrassment to people.

They were still smarting from the shock as it was difficult to believe that even in the 21st century an army chief could have suspended the constitution, put the judges of higher judiciary behind bars, suspended fundamental human rights, placed curbs on media and arrest lawyers, political workers and civil society activists on such a massive scale, they said.

All this had been done just to safeguard the illegal and unconstitutional rule of only one individual, they remarked. At a time when the democratic and progressive societies of the world were marching towards peace, prosperity and knowledge, Pakistan had been pushed down the road to dark ages where army generals were all in all, they said.

They said that the generals had time and again proved their ineptitude in handling the affairs of the state. The break-up of the country in 1971, rise in extremism, civil war in NWFP and Balochistan, unrest in Sindh and Punjab were ample proofs to this fact, they said.

They praised the judges who refused to take oath under Provisional Constitution Order the sham of emergency and demanded that Gen Musharraf and his coterie in military and civil administration should immediately lift emergency, restore fundamental rights, reinstate the judiciary, release prisoners and announce schedule for general elections.

“It is our belief that the integrity of the federation can no longer withstand army rule and (if it continued) very great harm to the whole society and polity is imminent,” they said.

It was time that the people stood up as one man against the authoritarian rule of generals and the doctrine of necessity to take the country towards the path of democracy, rule of law and constitution, they said.