HYDERABAD, May 22: Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader Mian Nawaz Sharif has called upon the masses to support democratic forces to wipe out dictatorship for ever from the country, saying the survival of future generations depends upon that.

He was addressing a gathering held in Kalhora colony on telephone to mark the 38th death anniversary of a peasant leader, Comrade Hyder Bukhsh Jatoi, late on Wednesday.

Mian Nawaz Sharif said that President Pervez Musharraf had taken over the power by force and added that the empowerment of masses was extremely necessary to raise a bulwark against the dictatorship.

He said he had asked the People’s Party leadership to send him the draft of the proposed constitutional package and that if it was in consonance with the Charter of Democracy and the Murree Declaration his party would definitely support it.

He, however, said that PML-N would give its opinion and, if needed, would offer suggestions when the package was made public.

In his short speech, the PML-N leader said the deposed judges would be restored and the independence of judiciary will be ensured.

He said the masses had voted in the present rulers to bring about changes in the system and added that the elected representatives were duty-bound to come up to their expectations.Mr Sharif recalled that when he was prime minister he had allotted lands to the landless haris (farmers) of Sindh and claimed that these haris were now the proud owners of these lands.

Paying tribute to Comrade Jatoi, who is also fondly called by many Baba-i-Sindh for introducing the slogan “Jeay Sindh”, Mr Sharif said that Jatoi had devoted his entire life to ameliorate the condition of oppressed peasants of Sindh.

“Mr Jatoi was also a great exponent of democracy and had waged a relentless struggle against the authoritarian regime,” he said while adding that he was a beacon of light for downtrodden masses and had given voice to the peasantry against the tyranny of feudal lords.

Hundreds of people attended the function and raised slogans in support of Nawaz Sharif.

Azhar Jatoi, PML-N leader Zain Ansari, Prof Mushtaq Mirani, Maulana Azizullah Bohio of Sindh Sagar Party, Muslim Shamim, Abrar Qazi, Nazeer Memon and others also spoke on the occasion.

They vowed to complete the mission of Comrade Jatoi and demanded that the state lands should be distributed among the landless haris.

They said doling out a few jobs to people would not resolve their problems and demanded of the government to evolve a comprehensive strategy for job creation.