KARACHI, Sep 6: Chief of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal Qazi Hussain Ahmad has said that 10 per cent increase in the prices of petroleum products has proved that the rulers are not concerned about problems and hardships being faced by the common man.

The imposed army dictatorship had brought the curse of poverty, price-hike and unemployment to the country and was promoting a culture of obscenity in the country under a well-thought-out plan, he added.

The MMA chief, who was addressing the women shoora of Jamaat-i-Islami Karachi at the Idara Noor-i-Haq, said that the Sept 9th strike would be a manifestation of a grand unity of people against anti-Islamic measures of the rulers.

Calling the recently held local government elections in the country a fraud, he said rigging under government patronage had broken all past records and had endorsed our apprehensions that one could not expect free and fair election by army rulers.

He asked the women folk to play their role; arm party workers with the power of faith, reform them and train them to accept challenges and issues being faced by the nation.

He said that Gen Pervez Musharraf had to be removed before the coming general elections, and that the Sept 9th strike would be the first step in building public opinion in that regard.

Meanwhile, MMA MNAs Muhammad Hussain Mehanti, Abdul Sattar Afghani and Muhammad Laeeq Khan in a statement said that the Sept 9th strike against military dictatorship for attempts to recognize Israel, and increase in POL prices would be a vote of no confidence against the government.

They said people would reject the government by observing a shutter-down strike throughout the country.

“An increase in POL prices is tantamount to eliminating people economically,” they said.

They added that people would not allow the military rulers to pursue their plans of recognizing Israel.

“They (people) will exercise their democratic right of peaceful protest and strike against anti-people policies.”