OKARA, May 19: National Workers’ Party chief Abid Hasan Minto has said all governments in the country, including civilian, did not involve common man in the policy-making process in the last 25 years.

He said this while addressing the District Bar Association (DBA) at Quaid-i-Azam Hall here on Saturday.

Mr Minto said General Pervez Musharraf had appointed servicemen in the judiciary, parliament, industry and trade and the concept of rule of law had vanished.

Mr Minto said the masses across the country were unanimous to remove the government as the May 12 killings in Karachi had exposed Mr Musharraf.

He said even though the general had propagated the enforcement of enlightened moderation in the country, he had installed a sham democracy which could not steer the country towards enlightened moderation. He called the lawyers’ struggle `jihad’ for the security of the country.

DBA President Malik Maqbool Hasan Shakir presided over the meeting and General Secretary Sagheer Harni also addressed the meeting. Poet Fazali Ahmed Khusro recited his poem which highlighted the ongoing lawyers’ movement for an independent judiciary.

SETTLED: The representatives of the Pakistan Army in a press release said the dispute over the construction of a security wall between the cantonment and Chak 11/4L and 15/4L had been settled.

The wall would be constructed around sensitive army areas and the remaining area would be guarded through check posts.

The press release said 32 acres would be provided to tenants of Chak 15/4L closer to their village in lieu of 32 acres of their land near the Cantonment.

The press release said District Police Officer Mirza Faran Baig would meet the villagers and tell them about the withdrawal of cases registered against them.

The design of a colony for tenants and others had been completed which would be shown to the villagers at a meeting.