TOBA TEK SINGH, Oct 30: Former MNA and PML-N central leader M. Hamza has condemned the arrest of ARD chief Makhdoom Javed Hashmi.

In a press statement on Thursday he termed his arrest the worst form of ‘state terrorism.’

He said Mr Hashmi was being punished for refusing to accept Gen Musharraf as a constitutional president.

He demanded immediate release of Mr Hashmi.

Meanwhile, PML-N district general secretary Advocate Rana Anwar urged all democratic forces to unite on a single platform to struggle for the release of Mr Hashmi.

Former federal minister Chaudhry Asadur Rehman and District Bar Association former president Chaudhry Shahid Iqbal have also condemned the arrest of the Makhdoom.

DENIAL: Former MPA from Rajana Sardar Masood Khan Gadhi has said that he had nothing to do with the PML-Q and he was still a worker of the PML-N.

He told newsmen here on Thursday that his name had been included in the organizing committee of the PML-Q for Toba Tek Singh district by the party’s provincial organization though he had never been a PML-Q member.

It may be remembered that during the Oct 10 general election he had got a PML-Q ticket for his brother-in-law Sardar Babar Khan Gadhi as he himself could not contest the election due to the qualification condition. Sardar Masood had also actively participated in his election campaign.