MULTAN, Nov 24: The Multan bench of the Lahore High Court has issued fresh notices to some 19 nationalist leaders on a petition filed against their political ideology.

Petitioner Ghazi Ahmad Hasan of the Punjab Labour Alliance had pleaded in his writ filed in 1998 through his counsel, Kunwar Intizar Mohammad Khan, that an anti-national under the Prevention of Anti-National Activities Act, 1974, was who ever propagated that Pakistan consisted of more than one nation.

On this ground, the petitioner had demanded that all political organizations should be banned that claimed Pakistan a 'multi-national' country. Nationalist leaders made respondents in the petition are Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Attaullah Mengal, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Mumtaz Bhutto, Altaf Husain, Taj Mohammad Langah, Hameed Asghar Shaheen, Abdul Majeed Kanju, Rasool Bakhsh Palejo, Afzal Khan, Dr Abdul Hayee Baloch, Yousaf Masti, Bashir Qureshi, Dr Qadir Magsi, Abdul Aziz Bhaio, Obaidullah Bhutto, Ahmad Nawaz Soomro, Qamar Bhatti and Afaq Ahmad.

Justice Ameer Alam had admitted the petition when it was filed some six years ago. Court officials said the regular hearing into the matter could not be initiated because of the misreported postal addresses of the respondents in the petition and subsequent non-compliance of the previous notices.

Besides the nationalist leadership, the petitioner had also made respondent the federal interior ministry. The fresh notices have been issued by the court of Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry.