HYDERABAD, Oct 20: The provincial president of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, Zain Ansari, has demanded that the generals and judges should also declare their assets like the politicians, and added that the tax-payers had the right to know as to how much wealth has been amassed by them.

He was speaking at a news conference at the Hyderabad Press Club on Monday.

Mr Ansari, who is also the provincial vice-president of the PML(N), lashed out at the generals saying that while they failed to fight against the enemy they always conquered their own people every 10 years while removing the democratically-elected government.

He said Gen Pervez Musharraf after usurping powers had promised that he would do away with the existing disharmony between the provinces and restore the confidence of the people.

He said contrary to this, foreign agencies had been given a carte blanche to enter the houses of the people and arrest them in midnight raids.

He said as for removing disharmony, the provinces were at loggerheads with each other and three provinces had rejected the Kalabagh dam, and added that the Sindh Assembly had adopted an unequivocal resolution against the greater Thal canal but Gen Pervez Musharraf was going ahead with these projects.

He said a single individual had concentrated all powers in his own hands and he was trampling over the rights of 40 million people of Sindh.

Mr Ansari said that in order to cultivate the barren lands of generals, 2.2 million acres of rich agricultural land of Sindh were being rendered barren.

He said that when a general retired he was paid Rs30 million, and added that they became the owners of bungalows in the posh areas claiming that it was due to their “good luck”.

He said these generals had hanged one popular prime minister and expelled Nawaz Sharif from the country who enjoyed a two-third majority in the parliament.

He wondered, “For how long can the nation tolerate these excesses?”

He said the rulers were beating the drum of the foreign exchange but the State Bank had admitted that it had purchased $5 million from the open market while the remaining amount was sent by the Pakistanis living abroad due to the Sept 11 incident.

He demanded that the government disclose the names of those persons whose bank loans amounting to Rs20 billion had been waived.

He said the generals had taken oath to protect the Constitution of Pakistan but they were always the first to violate the oath by removing constitutional governments.

Referring to the law and order situation, the provincial president, ARD, said that nobody’s life or property in Pakistan was safe and even the MNAs of treasury benches and foreigners were being killed in broad daylight.

He said that every institution and department in Pakistan was headed by a general.

He appealed to PML(N) activists and the general public to attend the public meeting scheduled to be held in Hyderabad on Oct 23 against the greater Thal canal.