High alert as Zardari arrives in Islamabad today
Pakistan Times Staff Report

RAWALPINDI: High alert was declared at Islamabad International Airport ahead of Asif Ali Zardari’s arrival on Tuesday evening from Lahore, sources said.

A source in Pakistan International Airlines disclosed that a seat for Asif Ali Zardari, spouse of Pakistan's ex-Prime Minister Ms Benazir Bhutto was reserved in PIA flight PK-388 that would arrive at Islamabad International Airport on Tuesday night at 21.10 PST [16:10 GMT].

The sources in the CAA told that high alert was declared at Islamabad International Airport and all the passes issued to the people for the day were cancelled and staff was put on alert to meet any unrest on the arrival of former senator Asif Ali Zardari from Lahore.

Meanwhile, police was busy in conducting raids to arrest local leaders of PPP to avoid any untoward incident on the eve of Zardari’s arrival in the town.

Raids

The local police had so far managed to arrest former MPA and PPP leading leader Agha Riazul Islam and PYO city President Shahid under 16 MPO while raids were in progress for the arrest of rest of the people who were around 80 in number.

The Home Department Punjab issued the arrest order of Agha Riazul Islam on April 14 and his arrest was materialized on April 25 while he was coming out from his residence at Saidpur Road.

PPP leaders Nasir Mir, Sardar Nasir, Mohammad Afzal, Moqeem Ahmad Khan , Banarus Chaudhry, Saleem Mughal, Sheikh Adnan, Ch. Asad Pervaiz, Khawar Butt and many others were hiding.

The sources disclosed that all the leaves of staff were cancelled and airport was placed on high alert to avoid any untoward incident on the arrival of former senator Asif Ali Zardari.

Passes Cancelled

The sources disclosed that all the temporary passes issued to people for the day were also cancelled and on the arrival of Asif Ali Zardari no one would be allowed to enter the airport premises to avoid any unpleasant incident.

The sources in PIA told that the seat of former senator was booked on the PIA flight PK-388 due to arrive here from Lahore on Tuesday (today) at 9.10pm while his return ticket for Lahore from Rawalpindi was booked on the flight PK-385 on April-28 at 8.30am. However, it was not confirmed whether former senator Asif Ali Zardari would avail this schedule or not.

The officials in district administration and police were tight lipped about their action plan on the arrival of former senator Asif Ali Zardari here.

Agha Riazul Islam along with six other party colleagues was arrested on Monday and sent to jail under 3-MPO (Maintenance of Public Order), informed police sources.

These arrests have been made after receiving a directive of Home Department, asking District Police to round up maximum number of PPP activists under 3-MPO, sources further disclosed.

Agha Riaz-ul-Islam and another party activist Shahid Khan were arrested from Rabia Manzil at Liaqat Road while others were taken into custody from other places.

More raids were in progress at different places in the city including PPP offices and houses of party activists and the number of arrest was likely to increase.

Previously when Zardari came here he was not allowed to came out of the airport and was taken into protective custody and sent back to Karachi while the people who came to receive their leader were not only stopped to enter the airport but most of them were roughed up by police and law enforcement agencies at the airport.

Resentment among PPP-P ranks high

Meanwhile, another story says that the PPP-P is being presently run by an ‘oligarchy’ consisting of only half a dozen people instead of collective wisdom of its Central Executive Committee (CEC), which is being ignored while taking vital decisions; this is what majority of party’s CEC members believe.

These senior party leaders also think that following Asif Zardari’s entry into the party and its politics, there has been much confusion about party policy vis- a-vis Musharraf regime, given his pro-establishment rhetoric.

Party sources say, there is a lot of resentment within the party the way things are being tackled without being consulted with its CEC, which was even ignored when BB decided to assign leadership role to her spouse Asif Zardari and sent him to Pakistan.

Party sources are of the view that many CEC members felt alienated when a six-member committee consisting of Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Ahmad Mukhtar, Jehangir Badr, Khalid Ahmad Khan Kharral, Khalid Javed Ghurki and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf was constituted to deal with matters relating to arrival of Asif Ali Zardari.

Though most of the committee members are also members of party’s CEC, no formal meeting of this body was convened to take all its 34 members into confidence about the whole issue, they said.

A CEC member seeking anonymity told The Nation that before the appearance of Mr Zardari on the political horizon, it had been a consistent stance of the PPP-P that it was in contact with the government for revival of democracy, constitution of an independent Election Commission and holding of next general elections before 2007.

'But the way Mr. Zardari portrayed the things, it seemed as if there was some major policy shift with regard to party’s stance towards the establishment, which was a hard nut to crack for many staunch PPP-P leaders and workers',thr story adds.

Yet, some senior PPP-P leaders met at Islamabad a few days back and decided to talk to party Chairperson Ms Benazir Bhutto about the whole state of affairs.

Leader of the Opposition in Senate Raza Rabbani was assigned the responsibility to go to Dubai and get things cleared from Ms Benazir. Mr Rabbani had a meeting with Ms Benazir Bhutto at Dubai last Sunday and returned to Islamabad satisfied, as she assured him that there was absolutely no change in party policy towards the establishment and that Asif would be asked "to be careful" about it in future.

Raza Rabbani Reax

When contacted, Raza Rabbani said he did meet Ms Benazir Bhutto in Dubai, but it was a scheduled meeting and no issue concerning the pro-establishment posture of Mr Zardari was raised. He also denied there was any controversy within the party regarding its policy towards the establishment.

"It had been PPP-P’s consistent stance that it was in contact with the present rulers for restoration of 1973 Constitution, formation of an independent Election Commission and holding of next general elections much before 2007", he said by adding, "this was the party position which would remain unchanged".

'PML-N satisfied with PPP's clarification'
By Amir Wasim

ISLAMABAD, April 25: Senior leaders of the People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Monday announced that there was no threat to the existence of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) as the parties had successfully removed misunderstandings between them.

Talking to Dawn after a meeting of senior leaders of the two parties, ARD secretary-general Iqbal Zafar Jhagra said the PPP leaders had assured the PML-N leadership that they would not take any solo flight and talks with the government would be held only from the ARD platform.

Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Raza Rabbani and Enver Baig attended the meeting from the PPP side while Raja Zafarul Haq, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Tehmina Daultana, Ishaq Dar and Syed Zafar Ali Shah represented the PML-N.

Mr Jhagra, who is also the secretary-general of the PML-N, said that his party was now satisfied with the clarifications given by the PPP regarding the ongoing reconciliation process. He said the PPP leaders had informed them that at present no formal negotiations were being held with the government or the establishment.

The ARD secretary-general said talks between the PPP and the PML-N were held in a very cordial atmosphere and leaders of both the parties vowed to implement the ARD charter as agreed in a recent meeting between PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif in Jeddah.

He said the leaders of the two parties agreed that extreme caution would be exercised from both sides before issuing any statement on policy matters. A source told Dawn that the PML-N leaders expressed serious concern over the statements of Asif Zardari in which he had said that the army was a reality and the PPP was ready to hold talks with it.

The source said the PPP leaders told the PML-N leadership that Asif Zardari was husband of Ms Bhutto and had no office in the party and, therefore, his views could not be considered policy statements.

Talking to reporters at the farm house residence of Makhdoom Amin Fahim soon after the meeting, the ARD leaders said they would continue the struggle for the restoration of the 1973 constitution and parliament's sovereignty and the alliance would continue to stay in existence till the achievement of these objectives.

PML-N chairman Raja Zafarul Haq said that no component party of the ARD would hold talks or make any agreement with Gen Pervez Musharraf on its own. He added that some misunderstanding had developed between the two parties due to the statements of some PPP leaders but it had now been removed.

Mr Fahim said no party would leave the alliance, formed by the late Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, till the achievement of its objectives. He said a meeting of the heads of component parties had been convened in Islamabad on Thursday to discuss the future strategy.

It may be mentioned that at a press conference on Thursday, acting PML-N parliamentary leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan announced that his party would stay away from all activities of the 17-party ARD owing to the attitude of the PPP.

Mr Nisar had asked the PPP to clarify its position whether it wanted to hold talks with the establishment or to launch a movement against the military government. He had also accused the PPP leadership of not taking his party into confidence about plans for the reception for ex-senator Asif Zardari in Lahore on April 16 and expressed concern over Mr Zardari's statements that the PPP was holding talks with the rulers.

Soon after Mr Nisar's news conference, Mr Fahim went to the PML-N chairman's residence on the directive of party chairperson Benazir Bhutto and requested him for a meeting of senior leadership of the two parties on Monday.

Mohtarma Bhutto condemns obstacles in way of justice to Party workers
Denounces continued arrest of workers throughout Punjab
Demands release of workers and end to political victimisation

Islamabad April 25, 2005: Former Prime Minister and Chairperson PPP Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has condemned the obstructions being placed in the path of PPP supporters maliciously arrested by the authorities in the Punjab.

"The authorities were not only deliberately denying the political workers judicial release after unconstitutionally arresting them but were also arresting even more workers", she said in a statement today.

She said that earlier the members of the political opposition were bailed out but rearrested on terrorism charges. After the lawyers tried to get their powers of attorney, several hundred were shifted to prevent powers of attorney being signed.

The former Prime Minister said that more than five hundred PPP supporters were in prisons many of them wearing clothes they had on when they went to Lahore airport on April 16 to welcome Senator Asif Ali Zardari. Preventive arrests still continued in the towns and cities of Punjab, she said.

She said that the PPP supporters would not be deterred by the harsh measures taken by the administration in the Punjab. "In fact the Punjab authorities were exposing their own fascist tendencies by the inhuman measures they had taken".

She saluted the spirit of the PPP supporters and told them to be strong.

"Tyranny never lasted and those who were violating the constitution would soon repent the days that they did so".

She also demanded the release of arrested workers and an end to the hounding of political opposition.

PPP apprises Commonwealth of the plight of PPP arrested workers

 

Islamabad, April 25, 2005: Pakistan Peoples Party has apprised the Commonwealth of the continued imprisonment and denial of judicial process of the PPP workers who were unconstitutionally arrested by the Pakistani regime on the eve of Asif Ali Zardari’s arrival at Lahore airport on 16 April 2005 and appealed the Secretary General Commonwealth to help in securing release of PPP workers.

Fauzia Wahab MNA, Central Coordinator Human Rights Cell, PPP in a letter addressed to Mr. Don McKinnon, the Secretary General Commonwealth, detailing the victimisation of PPP workers wrote, "Hundreds of pro-democracy supporters arrested when they went to Lahore on April 16, 2005 to receive Opposition leader Asif Ali Zardari are being held incommunicado by the Punjab administration. They are still wearing the clothes they had on April 15, 2005 when they left for Lahore. They have no contact with their families. Several hundred workers were bailed out by the Peoples Lawyers Forum. The regime rearrested them on terrorism charges. As soon as the PLF lawyers went to get their power of attorney to file a case, they were sent to different jails across Punjab to prevent legal access. As soon as they were re-located, they were once again spread to different jails to prevent them from signing powers of attorney that are the first step for legal redress. Thousands of our workers were arrested from the railway station, or picked up from the highways or caught from the bus-stands. These peaceful citizens of Pakistan, whose crime is that they wanted to show their love for Opposition leader Mr. Zardari by receiving him at Lahore airport have been booked under section 7 of the Anti-Terrorist Act."

Regarding charges of terrorism against democratic and political forces, she wrote, "Section 7 of the ATA signifies that the arrested are now all terrorists involved in "sabotage, arson, kidnapping and sectarian killing". Punishment under this section is DEATH. These are non-bail able offences. Our arrested workers will now be tried in special courts. Of the eight hundred of our missing workers till filing this report, only 456 of them could be located, while the rest are untraceable. Those located have been put in the various jails of the province, including 206 in Faislabad, 86 in Sahiwal, 47 in Multan, 28 in Gujranwala, 32 in Sargodha, 27 in Jehlum, and 30 in Mianwali. PPP Parliamentarian Ms. Naheed Khan filed an omnibus petition before the Lahore High Court asking the Court's intervention to demand that the people arrested in connection with the Lahore reception for Mr. Zardari be produced. The Lahore High Court has refused to intervene on technical grounds."

Detailing difficulties faced by the families of the arrested workers Fauzia Wahab, wrote, "The families of those missing are deeply perturbed. They are running from pillar to post to find out their whereabouts, but the local administration has refused help them. The Lawyers Forum of the PPP is trying its level best in helping them. Many of them were working in various private companies and were the only bread winner of their families. This cowardly act of the Punjab Regime is a denial of democratic values. Freedom of movement, freedom of association, freedom of speech and political association are guaranteed rights under the constitution of Pakistan to every citizen of the country. Booking our workers under the heinous Anti-Terrorism Act is in itself a gross abuse and disregard of Human rights. It is also making a mockery of the serious charge of terrorism by applying it to peaceful citizens going to receive a political leader from the airport."

Mohtarma Bhutto congratulates family of released Pak Embassy official
 

Islamabad April 25, 2005: On behalf of the Pakistan Peoples Party, former Prime Minister Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has welcomed the release of kidnapped official of the Pakistan embassy in Iraq.

In a message today Mohtarma congratulated Malik Mohammad Jawed and his family on his release and said that she was happy that the ordeal of the family as well as the country was over happily.

Malik Mohammad Javed, an assistant at the Baghdad Pakistani embassy, was missing since April 9. In a videotapes message he had appealed for release.

Swedish Political Party demands General Musharraf to release PPP Workers
Condemns use of force against PPP
 

Islamabad, 25 April 2005: The Swedish Social Democratic Party has strongly condemned the use of force against PPP workers on the arrival of Asif Ali Zardari at Lahore airport on 16 April 2005 and demanded General Musharraf for their immediate release.

The Secretary General, the Swedish Social Democratic Party, Marita Ulrskog, Chairperson the Swedish Social Democratic Women’s Association, Nalin Pekgul and International Secretary, the Swedish Social Democratic Party, Ann Linde in a letter addressed to General Musharraf condemning the arrest of PPP workers wrote, "It has come to our knowledge that thousands of workers, supporters and parliamentarians of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) last week was arrested during peaceful manifestations in various regions of Pakistan. Violence, arbitrary arrests and the use of force do not belong in a democratic state. We strongly condemn the government’s and authorities’ actions in this matter and demand the immediate release of those still held in custody."

The letter was sent today to the Pakistani Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden to forward it to General Musharraf.

Federation is at stake PPP is there to save it: Zardari

LAHORE, April 25: Pakistan Peoples Party leader Senator Asif Ali Zardari has said that from NWFP to Balochistan and to Sindh, the federation is at stake and the provinces have been alienated.

Danger to Pakistan is real and we have to strive hard to push these dangers away by restoring the democracy and the people’s power in the country, which could eliminate, poverty, hunger, unemployment and injustice from the country, he told a jam-packed Lahore High Court Bar Association’s (LHCBA) Shuhda-e-Karachi Hall where he received an standing ovation and the lawyers kept clapping for over five minutes to give Mr Zardari a rousing welcome.

Asif Zardari led a big procession of the party workers and leaders from Lahore Bilawal House to LHCBA to address its members.

He said the establishment is not just the military bureaucracy and the soldiers. It consists of people in the judiciary, it consists of the people in the media, it consists of large industrialists, it consists of all the interest groups all around the world, not just in Pakistan. “There is a larger interest group which has given up in our great nation. There are already think tanks which are predictiong that the future the geographical picture of Pakistan will be different. I will, with your help and with the people of Pakistan stand against them. I challenge them and I said to them we will not break we will survive, we will survive under the leadership of Mohtrama Benazir Bhutto as people like myself who will suffer even more if we need to. Thousands of people today are languishing in prison tell me what makes them go voluntarily after all we democratic forces are voluntarily peoples.”

The PPP leader said that three great personalities who play key role in the foundation and history of Pakistan belonged to lawyers community. He pointed it Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Allam Mohammad Iqbal and Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto are the glittering stars of Pakistan gifted by the lawyers community to the nation of Pakistanis.

He euologised the legal fraternity for being in the forefront in the struggle for the restoration of democracy and for the rights of the people and added “You the defenders of democracy and defenders of law.”

Addressing the lawyers, he said, “you will always find a place in my heart and in the heart of the PPP, because you welcomed us in bad times. You fought with us, you stood by us, you gave me hope when there was none, you gave the hope of democracy, whern there was none. You stand today with us for freedom of democracy and democratic rights.

Acknowledging the sacrifices of lawyers during the fight for restoration of democracy, Asif Zardari promised them, “We stand by you in this august fight.”

He specially mentioned the names of leading lawyers who stood by him during his trials from Raja Anwar, Jehangir, Farooq Naik, Sarder Lateef Khosa, Dr Babar Awan to Aitzaz Ahsan.

He said that the establishment chose military solution to the East Pakistan issue and you saw that we lost it. But in the bargain Punjab was blamed for it. I came here to make sure that Punjab is not blamed again for any of their actions today because you in the Punjab are as democratic, as wealthy, and as poor as anybody else in Sindh, Balochistan or NWFP. Today the divide between the rich and poor is increasing and despite the tall claims of the government we still see the people killing themselves, burning themselves, throwing themselves off the bridges, throwing themselves off the Minar-e-Pakistan. “Never before in the history of Pakistan or the faith of Islam has that even happened.”

Targeting the regime, he said, “you can’t shoulder the burden of Pakistan. The danger is too grave. Your mind is not set. Your mind does not have the capacity to find the solution because as before and as in the past military might and military solutions are no solutions to the problems faced by our own people.”

He said we won’t accept short of a complete democracy and complete power to the people.

Earlier, in her welcome address, Justice (Retd) Fakhrunissa Khokhar, President LHCBA said that there neither democracy and supremacy of law in the country. The judiciary is not independent. She said had there been an independent judiciary and supremacy of law in the country the dictatorships could not have propped up and imposed.

She said that the jails and police lock-ups in Punjab have been over crowded with the innocent PPP workers and right of the free movement of the people was obstructed and restricted. She said those coming to Lahore to receive Asif Ali Zardari were not only arrested but fixed in terrorism charges.

The LHCBA President said that Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who gave Constitution to this country and create a respectable position of Pakistan among Muslim countries and the world was murdered. While Mohtrama Benazir Bhutto who is the beloved leader of the people of Pakistan was forced to live in exile and her spouse Asif Ali Zardari spent eight years in jail without any conviction.

In the end she said we hope that judiciary will be made independent and an era of true democracy given to the country.

The PPP leaders who were present on the occasion included Jahangir Badr, Chaudhry Aitazaz Hasan, Raja Parvaiz Ashraf, Qasim Zia, Sheikh Rafiq, Naveed Chaudhry, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Ms. Mizbah Yaseen, Mrs Talat Yaqoob, Ms Ruksana Bangash, Khalid Khar, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, and others.

Mohtarma Bhutto condemns gang rape in Sialkot
Demands culprits be arrested and brought to justice

Islamabad April 23, 2005: Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has expressed deep anguish over the rape incident in Sialkot and the bid at self immolation of the father of the girl.

A teen-age girl was gang raped in Sialkot last week allegedly by three men who later made good their escape. The father of the victim has alleged that when he took the matter to the police, two officials of the Sialkot Civil Lines Police instead of helping also assaulted her. The police were now allegedly forcing him to reach a compromise with the accused police officials.

The father Asghar Bhatti protesting against the police pressure on him to withdraw the gang rape case tried to torch himself outside Lahore Press Club, but was rescued.

In a statement today the former Prime Minister held the rulers responsible for the humiliation of women through gang rape and other acts of violence against them. She said that gang rapes were on the rise ever since the gang rape of Dr Shazia in Sui was hushed up mysteriously.

"While these incidents continue to bring bad name to the country in the world the rulers are mindlessly pursuing political opponents for vendetta".

She asked the regime to immediately arrest the culprits and award them exemplary punishment under the law.

The former Prime Minster also directed the women parliamentarians of the Party to visit the victim and to provide her moral and legal support.

The Party Chairperson also directed various committees of the Party to raise the issue before international human rights bodies and foreign diplomats in Islamabad.

PPP apprises UN Commission for HR of continued incarceration of PPP Workers

Islamabad, April 23, 2005: Pakistan Peoples Party has apprised the United Nation Commission for Human Rights of the continued imprisonment of 800 PPP workers by the Pakistan regime despite its claim that al the PPP activists have been released.

In a letter addressed to Mr. Bertrand Ramcharan the acting high commissioner, the Central Coordinator of Human Rights Desk, PPP, Ms. Fauzia Wahab MNA wrote, "In the Lower Mall police station alone there are about 180 activists who are being caused great discomfort by being squeezed in a claustrophobic environment. Others have been kept in a horse stable with a view to degrade them further. The overcrowding of the cells has led to the toilets breaking down and the regime is refusing to fix the toilets. There is a nauseating smell and no toilet facilities. This is being done to torture the detainees which is inhuman and against UN rules and regulations. Moreover, in some police stations, sewerage water has been deliberately released in the lock ups to wet the detainees with dirty water. Such primitive methods of punishment are unlawful and contribute to intolerance, immoderation and extremism."

Regarding the victimisation of women activists, she wrote, "Our lady activists from other provinces, who were arrested on the 15th of April and sent on judicial remand to Kot Lakhpat Jail, have been asked to furnish a surety bond of Rs. 50,000/- each. On the April 18, 2005 the PPP arranged for the amount, but the Magistrate became untraceable when the amount was to be submitted. Thus our women are still behind the bars. Most of them are working women who had come only for the weekend to attend the reception rally of Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, but as they are unable to return to their jobs, it is likely that their services will be terminated."

She further wrote, "In a country where trade unionism is banned and where the private sector has immense hiring and firing power, such activities are disapproved. A political worker in our society is most vulnerable in such situation. He lives in an environment of constant job insecurity. Besides the mental and physical torture that he or she had to go through, they are now threatened with the possibility of losing their jobs. The stopping of our workers, indeed, from exercising their democratic political right has exposed the government's claim of being tolerant and liberal towards the opposition. They over-reacted."

Exposing the duality of the regime Ms. Wahab wrote, "Their tolerant face remains confined to the religious parties only, who are allowed to take out rallies, processions and hold public meetings in all the four corners of the country, but the same policy of tolerance becomes inapplicable when it comes to the Peoples Party. They know that the PPP is a genuine political party, which has its roots in the masses and they fear its political power. To quote the Human Rights Watch group: ". democracies do not use force to prevent peaceful gatherings. There is nothing enlightened or moderate about arresting thousands of people who merely want to participate in the country's political process"."

"The Human Rights Cell of the Pakistan Peoples Party condemns the oppressive government of the PML (Q) and demands the immediate release of our workers in Kot Lakhpat Jail and the various police stations of Lahore", Fauzia Wahab concluded.

Mohtarma Bhutto welcomes election of new Pontiff
Says it is time of celebration for Christian community

Islamabad April 23, 2005: Former Prime Minister Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has welcomed the election of a new Pontiff by the Vatican following the passing away of Pope John Paul 11 as a day of significance and celebration for people of the Christian faith.

Felicitating the new Pontiff on behalf of the PPP the former Prime Minster said that the new pontiff has chosen the name Benedict, which in Latin means "blessed" and expressed the hope that his era would be a blessed one not only for the Christians but also for the world community.

She recalled the earlier Pope Benedict XV whose papacy coincided with the First World War used diplomatic skills to end conflict and to bring peace. She hoped that the new Pope's era would also be a harbinger of peace and of inter-faith understanding and harmony.

The former Prime Minister said that when John Paul II was elected, the international community's concern revolved on East-West relations. Pope Benedict takes over the Papacy at a time when relations with the Muslim world are dominating the world stage, she said and expressed the hope that relations between Christianity and Islam would continue to grow under him.

Noting the commonality both religions place on helping the poor and needy, Mohtarma Bhutto prayed that the tensions between the countries of the South and North over issues such as Globalisation and debt relief would also decrease.

She congratulated the Christians of Pakistan, and Christians all over the world, on the election of Pope Benedict.

By Wajid Shamsul Hasan

LONDON, April 24: Contrary to the wishes and high hopes of Pakistan's Defence Minister, Sindh Chief Minister and many others in the Government who had committed to resign if Asif Ali Zardari returned home, the former Senator did manage to be back despite the state of siege clamped on the provincial capital.

At the time of writing this piece from amongst thousands of PPP supporters arrested during the government's panic operation, quite a large number are still in police custody while barricades that had been erected around Lahore's Bilawal House remain put in the debris of President General Pervez Musharraf's 'enlightened moderation' and self-trumpeted democratic credentials.

The red-alert at the Pakistani airports, swarming of the provincial capital with more than 25,000-strong police force, suspension of train services, clampdown on private transporters, massive arrests and curfew-like conditions in and around Lahore Airport, hours before the landing had won the day for Benazir Bhutto, her spouse and the PPP much before the actual event.

While people in Pakistan were directly affected by the government's brutal operation, fig-leaf of General Pervez Musharraf's credibility or call what you may, was torn into pieces by CNN, BBC and the international electronic and print media world over by keeping their cameras focused on the ugly scenes showing journalists accompanying Zardari being bodily dragged by the police into their vans. It remained first lead for several hours despite Musharraf doing his high-profile Delhi yatra and best of efforts by his media managers to get him first on the box. Asif's return proved to be much more important than Musharraf's visit to Delhi.

Although the entire operation was carried out on a war footing by the government, the day belonged to Asif Zardari for his courage and the PPP workers and supporters for their democratic commitment. The "jiyalas" were back in their old fighting form with determination to do and die for the party and its leader Benazir Bhutto. One of them actually tried to torch himself to death in protest.

The extent of party's strength and popularity can be judged from the crude show of relief expressed by the Punjab Chief Minister who lost no time in hosting a feasty feast for the Punjab police personnel for laying a successful siege of the provincial capital. A senior police officer on surety of anonymity told me on phone: "Message from Lahore must be profoundly reassuring for the PPP Chairperson who is reported to be deliberating over the possible dates to return home."

Yet another officer whose job was on the line during the operation, commenting on the lavish "bara khana" for the police said: "Wait for the Independence Day Award list. You shouldn' t be surprised to see many get medals for 'winning' the battle for Lahore. It was a 'victory' like that of Kargil".

I can understand the cynicism under lying this remark. After all most of the medals that comically decorate the Khakis are not given for performing bravely in war against the country but for the battles against the Pakistani people fought in Waziristan, Baluchistan or Sindh.

The Financial Times correspondent in Islamabad, Farhan Bokhari, believes much of the satisfaction for "Mr Zardari must come from the sheer incompetence which went into the government's handling of his arrival in Lahore last week. From battling journalists on that inbound flight, to confining politicians to the safety of official detention facilities, General Musharraf's government has only proven that political and civil liberties in today's Pakistan must have limitations.

The idea of enlightened moderation notwithstanding, the government has suffered one of the worst setbacks to its relations with the Pakistani Press in the wake of Mr Zardari's return journey. In spite of much lip service to the contrary, the Pakistani government has no way of demonstrating that it remains tolerant to dissent."

The enormous state of siege and the operation to stop the masses from welcoming back Zardari has profusely demonstrated the fact that the PPP, under the undisputed leadership of Benazir Bhutto, remains the strongest threat to the forces of status quo, the Praetorian establishment and its created political hangers-on as manifested in the form of PML-Q and the sunshine Patriots.

The countrywide mobilization by the PPP in such a short time shows how deep its roots are in the masses. It is also an _expression of confidence and explicit faith of the downtrodden people in its leadership to free them of the exploitative hold of those who do not believe in power to the people. Men and women in the street believe that it is only the PPP that can help them fulfil their democratic and socio-economic aspirations and empower them to be masters of their own destiny. It is the popular belief that Benazir and PPP being the true heirs to Shaheed Bhutto's legacy and commitment of 'roti, kapra and makkan', can bring to an end their socio-economic miseries and strangulation.

The siege of Lahore and unleashing of state tyranny on the unarmed people exercising their democratic right to assemble has established beyond any iota of doubt that it is nothing but naked totalitarianism under the veneer of a so-called parliamentary system - a Praetorian contraption not based on the will of the people or their mandate but on the use of brute force by usurper forces.

The magnitude of oppression in the "Operation Lahore", besides subjecting the people with untold sufferings, also exposed the General in the eyes of his western democratic friends who wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt regarding his claim that he was seeking support from liberal forces and that that he wanted to build an enlightened society.

The intolerant, immoderate and extremist reaction to a peaceful political rally clearly has demonstrated well that the regime was incapable of defending the values of enlightenment. Not only that, it has also brought into international focus the regime's politics of duplicity and selectivity.

The ban of the PPP rally and brutal treatment to the people much before they had assembled coupled with General Musharraf's defence of the MMA's so-called 'million marches' (publicized by the official media as such) 'as peaceful, disciplined and well-organised' has established a conspiratorial liaison between him and the MMA obviously to blackmail the world community to accept the military dictatorship or face a Jihadi take over of Pakistan's nuclear assets.

In this context it is worth reminding the international community that it were his Jihadi favorites from the MMA fold under the provincial government of his blue eyed boys, the Choudhries of Gujrat, that a marathon race of boys and girls was allowed to be attacked and beaten up by the Jihadi goons while the Punjab police remained a silent witness to the ugly operation victims of which are still nursing their wounds.

It is now an established pattern that the regime runs with the American hare and hunts with the Jihadi hounds. An operation on war footing denying the democratic right to hold a rally to the PPP has demonstrated that the regime was indeed conspiring to allow the MMA the advantage of political freedom and deny the same to the moderate and liberal opposition parties. Analysts apprehend this duplicity could backfire on the nation just as support to extremist elements among the Afghan Mujahideen had backfired resulting in the emergence of the Taliban and the Al-Qaeda.

The countrywide crackdown on PPP also exposed the regime's cat-and-mouse game in pursuing its so-called policy of reconciliation. It had claimed that an even playing field would be allowed to all the political parties. Its resort to imposing a state of siege on Lahore has proved as utterly false its claim at reconciliation. By denying to PPP the political space given to the MMA and PML-Q as well as others to hold public meetings, rallies, processions and bus in their supporters from different parts of the country without hindrance from the authorities, has exposed its bias against the country's largest and most popularly liberal party.

The regime has thus knocked the bottom off the popular perception created by it to show to the world that it was seeking and working at reconciliation with genuinely enlightened democratic forces.

The so-called political and democratic contraption that General Musharraf has established following the grossly flawed and overly rigged elections in 2002 replacing the federal parliamentary system as envisaged in the 1973 Constitution, is neither democratic nor federal. It did not have anything to do with the people or their vital interests. It had only one aim: to consolidate power in one single individual who is also the army chief and to hoodwink the world by masquerading it as democratic.

As a result of its gross failure and its speedy unraveling, life in Pakistan has become short, brutish and nasty with mounting problems for the people leaving them with minimal opportunity for survival.

It is time to call a spade a spade. Successive military dictators have led the military as an institution into disrepute and ever since the murder of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto the country has been plunged into a fratricidal conflict struggle between the Bonapartist generals and the people of Pakistan, the former enforcing might as right with the barrel of the gun opposed by the masses seeking the supremacy of the vote.

We have had 57 years of chequered history. There is not much time left. We have to resolve various contradictions before all is over for us. The challenges faced by the masses are socio-economic and politically multifaceted and they can only be overcome through democratically institutionalized existence. General Pervez Musharraf, as the so-called democratic leader of the "most militarized state" in the world has acquired the stamp of legitimacy not from his own people but from his foreign masters.

There is a consensus that Bonapartists have pushed Pakistan into a quagmire of problems that pose much more serious a challenge than that of 1971. There is a big question mark on its future and its very survival as a federal state is in doubt especially when its generals and those politicians in cahoots with them seem to be determined in pushing Quaid's Pakistan it into the dustbin of history.

The unwavering support of voters between 38 to 42 per cent that the PPP has sustained since its inception shows the confidence masses have in its leadership and why not. Political history of the sub-continent hardly has a match in personal sacrifice where a family lost its head of the family (ZAB), Begum Bhutto perennially afflicted with a wound that has now taken the toll, with her two sons (Shahnawaz and Murtaza Bhutto) murdered by the Establishment and where its Chairperson (Benazir Bhutto) and her spouse (Asif Zardari) have waddled through oceans of torture, prosecution and persecution without compromising on their principles and commitment to serve the poor, come what may.

Time is running out fast on the military establishment to realize that sooner than later it has to make room for a genuine government of the people, by the people and for the people. It cannot continue its hold on the destiny of the nation by proxy or through a civilian charade. It must reconcile itself to productive co-existence with Pakistan People's Party so that both could play a role complimentary to each other for the good of the people and the country.

Asif Zardari's recent statement that PPP is ready to carry along the military establishment on its democratic goal should not be construed as one made from a position of weakness or on the basis of a deal. Most certainly not. It reflects a ground reality. Pakistan is threatened with annihilation. To save it would require a national effort. And only a party as large and popular as PPP has the courage and strength to restore our military the image of a national institution rather than a handmaid of ambitious generals. Its leadership has the guts and vision to make it integral part of national life again rather than its present perception that it is above the state.

Today General Musharraf, many years too late and after much damage, has adopted most of PPP's positions on foreign policy, relations with India and Kashmir issue. He is following on the dotted lines drawn by Benazir Bhutto including the confidence building measures, softening of the borders, bus service etc., while few years back he had considered her a security risks.

Time has come to destroy seeds of animosity sowed by some ambitious generals between PPP and the military. It needs to be remembered that soon after the generals had surrendered East Pakistan to the Indian army in 1971 President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was advised by the opposition leaders from the smaller provinces to cut army to a size so that it does not have the teeth to bite the civilian authority.

Bhutto had a different vision. In view of the inevitable threats to Pakistan's survival and the role he had sought for Pakistan as a global player, he chose to emphasis on the need for strengthening of the nation's defence capability supplemented by self-sufficiency and economic development.

His answer to such a situation was to develop 'a local industrial potential for equipping its armed forces with more sophisticated weapons' including the nuclear capability 'even if the nation had to eat to grass'. He had believed that 'the effect of a nation's diplomatic activities is often related to the weight of its fighting capacity'.

His daughter, despite what General Zia had done to her father and defying foreign powers that had threatened to make him a horrible example, preferred the same path to strengthen Pakistan's defence by giving it missile technology making it capable of carrying its defensive warheads to hit the targets from where it expected to be attacked.

The writer is a former Pakistan High Commissioner to UK.

PPP workers from Sindh dispersed in jails in Punjab
Party protests, urges international bodies to intervene

Islamabad April 23, 2005: Pakistan Peoples Party has condemned the manipulation of judicial process to victimize the Party workers who had tried to welcome Asif Zardari on return to Lahore on April 16.

The arrested Party workers have been dispersed to different towns across the province to make the process of judicial relief more difficult for them.

This is mockery of the judicial process and is designed with malafide intent to deny justice and torture the political workers", said a spokesman of the Party in a statement today.

Thousands of Party workers in Lahore were detained and cases under section 16 MPO and 188 PPC registered against them for arranging peaceful reception of Senator Asif Ali Zardari.

As soon as the workers were arrested the legal aid committees of the PLF started providing the legal aid to the workers throughout Punjab. Bail applications were filed but as the civil judges and magistrates began giving bails the rulers brought in new terrorism charges under section 7 of the Anti terrorism Act 1997 against the workers thus effectively blocking their bail.

When the lawyers started filing bail applications before the special courts trying terrorism cases the government retaliated by dispersing the political prisoners particularly those from Sindh to jails in different towns of Punjab.

The Party denounces in the strongest terms the shifting of Party workers belonging to Sindh to jails in Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Gujranwala, Sialkot and Sheikhupura in the Punjab.

This is fascism and thuggery in the extreme and will breed hatred against Punjab in other provinces, the spokesman said.

The Party asks the regime not to take political vendetta that far and cause irreversible damage to the federation, the spokesman said.

The spokesman said that the Party would also approach international bodies against this travesty of justice. "The Party also urges human rights bodies, members of the legal fraternity and civil society to raise their voice against this patent injustice and barbarity".

Elections in Pakistan this year, says Zardari
Pakistan Times Punjab Bureau Report

LAHORE: PPP-P leader Asif Ali Zardari Saturday reiterated that party would make 2005 as election year and Benazir Bhutto will be the Prime Minister for third time.

“Those who had launched negative propaganda on my visit to Dubai are disturbed and frustrated with my arrival,” Zardari told a meeting of the office-bearers and workers of Peoples Labour Bureau (PLB), Punjab and its affiliated organisations at Bilawal House.

He said the elections would be held this year as the rulers have failed to deliver. Only a democratic leadership could pull the country out of crisis, he added.

Zardari said he has learnt a lot in jails and analysed Pakistan’s internal and external situation. He said; "the rulers are asserting the success of their economic policies but the poverty, unemployment and inflation have registered unprecedented increase".

The poor economic conditions have compelled the poor, downtrodden and the unemployed to commit suicide and God knows who is benefiting from so-called increase in foreign exchange reserves in the country, he said.

Zardari said that his party would not tolerate any injustices with the labour community and would continue to raise its voice for their rights. He said the labourers have always played an admirable role for democracy and development of the country but the rulers have imposed some merciless laws upon them.

He pledged that PPP would abolish all such laws which go against the interests of this community, which remains to be the backbone of every country. He asked the labourers to come forward to play their role in the struggle for saving the country and restoration of democracy.

Zardari has made it clear that party has no room for those who left the party leadership and workers in lurch at hard times and abandoned them for the greed of ministries.

Addressing party workers and office-bearers from Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Rahimyar Khan, Gujranwala, Hafizabad, Mandi Bahauddin and Gujrat at Bilawal House, Zardari said “We don’t want to bring the people to the streets and create law and order situation but we would pursue our struggle through constitutional and democratic means under the leadership of Benazir Bhutto”.

He said all the workers and leaders of the PPP will strive hard to make the party more strong and to accomplish the mission of Shaheed Bhutto.

Zardari said he would go to every district in Punjab and would contact the people and workers directly as the PPP belonged to the poor, the downtrodden, peasants and labourers.

Every worker who is silence for some reasons will be mobilised and taken along in the struggle for the restoration of true democracy, he added.

Zardari said that it was the PPP which sowed the seed of democracy in Pakistan and it would again be the PPP which will make democracy stronger in the country.

Earlier, the party office-bearers paid tributes to Asif Zardari "for braving eleven years in jails and facing boldly all the injustices inflicted by the undemocratic regimes".

Zardari received rousing welcome when he arrived to address them. PPP Punjab President Qasim Zia, Shah Mehmood Qureshi MNA, Rana Aftab Ahmed Khan, Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Ch Zaka Ashraf, Mian Mumtaz Matiana, Imtiaz Safdar Warraich, Riaz Ahmed Dahar also spoke on the occasion.

workers from Karachi and other parts of the province and he assured that that the people of Sindh would continue to struggle for the restoration of democracy and national integrity despite getting harsh treatment at the Punjab government.

“We consider Punjab government as unrepresentative and autocratic whose policies are not supported by the Punjabis,” they added.

Terrorism cases against PPP workers:

Zardari to move SC

Daily Times: Staff Report
 

LAHORE: Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and husband of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, has said that he, with the help of human rights organisations, will move the Supreme Court challenging the registration of cases under Section 7-A of the Anti-terrorism Act against PPP activists.

He was talking to a People’s Lawyers Forum delegation which called on him at Bilawal House on Saturday. Zardari said that he would personally appear before the Supreme Court as petitioner.

He praised lawyers for their struggle to restore democracy and revive the 1973 Constitution.

Addressing leaders and party workers from Bahawalpur and Gujranwala districts, Zardari said that “turncoats” (PPP Patriots) would not be accepted back into the party again.

“We do not want to bring the people on the streets and create a law and order situation, but we will pursue our struggle through constitutional and democratic means under the leadership of Benazir Bhutto.” He said that all PPP workers and leaders should strive to make the party stronger and take the mission of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to every Pakistani.

He said that he would go to every district in Punjab and contact the people directly. Every worker would be mobilised in the struggle for the restoration of democracy, Zardari added.

PPP leaders Qasim Zia, Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Rana Aftab Ahmed Khan, Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf, Mian Mumtaz Matiana, Imtiaz Safdar Warraich and Riaz Ahmed Dahar spoke on the occasion.

Addressing a People’s Labour Bureau meeting at Bilawal House, Zardari said that the PPP would make 2005 an election year and Benazir Bhutto would become prime minister for a third time.

“Those who launched negative propaganda on my visit to Dubai are frustrated by my arrival.”

He urged labourers to fight for the restoration of democracy. Zardari predicted the current regime would soon fall as it had failed to deliver. “Only democratic leadership can pull the country out of crisis,” said Zardari. Zardari said that the government’s claims of booming the economy were belied by increasing poverty, unemployment and inflation.

The meeting passed a resolution demanding the immediate release of detained party workers, withdrawal of false cases against Benazir Bhutto and other party leaders and abolition of anti-labour laws.

— to address LHCBA tomorrow

LAHORE: Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan People’s Party leader and husband of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, will address the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) at the Karachi Shuhda Hall at 10:30am tomorrow (Monday). LHCBA president Justice (r) Fakharunnisa Khokhar invited Zardari to address the bar. staff report

Mohtarma Bhutto felicitates Kazi Asad Abid
 

PPP condemns barricading of Lahore Bilawal House
Demands lifting of siege and restoration of political freedoms

Islamabad April 21, 2005: The Pakistan Peoples Party has condemned the barricading of Zardari House in Lahore again by the local administration and stopping the movement in and out of the House of Senator Asif Ali Zardari and visitors and Party workers wishing to see him and asked the government to immediate lift the barricade.

The police cordoned off Zardari House in Lahore Thursday morning and all the roads leading to it sealed. Mr. Asif Zardari who wanted to go out for prayers at the mazar of Hazrat Data Gunj Bakhsh was not allowed to leave the house.

In a statement today a spokesman of the Party said that the political orphans and the administration was taking away the liberty of the PPP and its leadership and restricting its political space.

He said that the political space for the Party was shrunk by the breaking of the PPP districts in Sindh, followed by the dismissal of PPP mayors. While the MMA and other parties were allowed to hold rallies and public meetings the PPP was not allowed even to welcome their leader Asif Zardari returning home after 8 years of jail without conviction.

The spokesman said that the brutal, inhuman and barbaric treatment meted out to the party workers, journalists and ladies who were subjected to indescribable physical and meal torture on the eve of Mr Zardari’s return was unheard of.

Women were beaten and pulled by their hair by male security guards of the provincial chief minister, journalists were kicked around and workers and members of parliament were thrown into ghettos. Party workers who were bailed by courts were re-attested on terrorism charges.

All this was happening even as the media quoted General Musharraf saying that the PPP was a moderate Party and needed to be given political space, the spokesman said. The spokesperson said that the positive statements of General Musharaf at the policy level were yet to be translated into protection of constitutional guarantees for PPP workers and their supporters in practical terms on the political field.

The PPP said that while positive statements were being made, the PPP workers were being subjected to worst kind of savage treatment seen in the sub continent which was damaging the image of Pakistan across the world.

He demanded that the blockade of the Zardari House be immediately lifted and the freedoms of Asif Zardari and Party workers restored.

PPP denounces terrorism charges against workers
Demands withdrawal of cases, release of workers

Islamabad, 21 April 2005: PPP leader Raja Pervez Ashraf MNA has condemned the re-arrest of PPP workers who were bailed out by the courts in the Punjab for trying to welcome Senator Zardari on his return to Lahore on April 16 and warned the rulers of the grave consequences of victimizing political opponents.

Thousand of Party workers who were arrested in Lahore on April 16 for welcoming Asif Zardari and were being bailed out by courts were re-arrested after the workers were charged with terrorism under 7 ATA. The cases of these workers will now be tried in special courts trying cases of terrorism.

A team of PLF lawyers including Mian M.Jehangir, Farooq Naik, Hanif Tahir, Mian Shaukat Ali, Iftekhar Shahid, Rashid Lodhi, Amir Hussain Hashmi, Khalid Hashmi, Shakeel Pasha and Moazam Iqbal Butt approached different courts on Wednesday asking for release orders of the workers who had been given bails. However, the Magistrates on duty denied release orders saying that they were waiting orders from Session judges and Home department. It soon turned out that the government had instituted new cases under anti terror law against the workers who could not get bail from ordinary courts.

In a statement today Raja Pervez Ashraf said that it was most barbaric and inhuman to charge political workers with terrorism. "The claims of tolerance and moderation are exposed by the fact that while terrorists roam free in the country the political workers are charged with terrorism".

Raja Pervez Ashraf demanded the immediate withdrawal of terrorism charges against the workers and their release forthwith. He also called upon the human rights bodies and legal fraternity to agitate the matter.

Zardari Not to Replace Amin Fahim as President of Parliamentarians —Says PPP
 

Islamabad, 21 April 2005: A PPP spokesperson has denied that Mr. Asif Ali Zardari was about to replace Makhdoom Amin Fahim as President of the Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians.

The spokesman was commenting on MMA chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad’s press interview in which the latter said that Senator Asif was about to replace Makhdoom Amin Fahim as the Party President.

However, Mr. Zardari was a senior leader of the PPP who had given enormous sacrifices for the Party and remained loyal to it despite torture and imprisonment. He had won the love and affection of the workers that was evident from the scenes in and around Lahore Bilawal House.

The spokesperson said that the PPP had been responding to dialogue initiatives with the regime since October 1999. None of these initiatives however have come to fruition because of the Party’s insistence on the democratisation and respect to fundamental human rights.

The spokesperson said that the MMA has also been in dialogue with the regime from time to time since 1999. However, unlike Qazi Hussain Ahmad Sahib and the MMA, the PPP had neither supported the seventeenth amendment nor gave General Musharaf the dual offices of army chief and President.

The spokesman said that if it had accepted military dictatorship, its workers would not have been mercilessly beaten and imprisoned as they had on April 16th when they went to receive their brother and leader Asif Zardari on his first visit to Lahore after eight years of imprisonment. The PPP’s rally was gigantic which is why the entire country's road, railway and bus services were paralysed when the administration took action against it.

The paralysis of government was a reflection of the fear of the forces hostile to PPP which was voicing the sentiments of the people and fighting for their right to Roti, Kapra Aur Makaan, he said.

PPP welcomes ICG report
Says squeezing of democratic parties would spawn terrorism and sectarianism
 

Islamabad April 21, 2005: Pakistan Peoples Party has welcomed the International Crisis Group’s latest report and called upon the regime not to push the democratic forces with their back to the wall.

"The State of Sectarianism in Pakistan" report by the ICG says that the military’s policies of marginalisation of secular democratic forces was generating religious intolerance and promoting sectarianism.

The International Crisis Group is an independent, non-profit, multinational organization dedicated to prevent and resolve deadly conflict around the world.

The report said that ‘sectarian terrorists in Pakistan are thriving’ and adds ‘because of the military government's unwillingness to contain them inhibits international efforts against global terrorism’.

The report cautions the western countries that the military rulers were consciously peddling the notion that the choice in Pakistan was between the military and the mullahs.

"The choice in Pakistan is between genuine democracy and the military-mullah alliance that is producing and sustaining religious extremism", it said.

In a statement today spokesman of the PPP said that the Party has always been saying that the Musharraf regime was deliberately squeezing the democratic opposition out of mainstream national politics.

This was done so as to tell the west that the choice in nuclear Pakistan was between military dictatorship and religious dictatorship and if the military rule was not supported Pakistan’s atomic bombs might fall into the hands of mullahs, he said.

The spokesman said that was why some western countries supported Musharraf dictatorship because they thought that weapons of mass destruction in the hands of the military were safer than in the hands of religious extremist parties.

"It is reassuring that the myth so carefully nurtured by the military dictatorship has been exploded", the spokesman said and added, "the Party urges the international community to take the next step and ensure restoration of genuine democracy in the country through fair and free elections this year".

The spokesman recalled that first the mainstream democratic parties were marginalized by forcing their leaders into exile and banning them from elections through laws that were given back dated effect. Then the elections were gerrymandered such that the international community was forced to denounce them as ‘flawed’.

It was followed by the Army chief declaring himself as the President through a fraudulent referendum and the re-writing of the Constitution in the GHQ.

The religious parties in the Parliament then endorsed the re-written Constitution and President in uniform thereby further marginalisng the democratic parties, he said.

"After saddling himself with power with the help of religious parties the General then began pedaling the myth that if he was removed the country will fall into the hands of the religious extremists", the spokesman said and added, "unfortunately some countries bought this patently spurious and self serving argument".

The spokesman warned that continue to squeeze the democratic opposition would only spawn extremism and religious intolerance.

Chairman ARD says misunderstandings will be removed

Islamabad April 21, 2005: Makhdoom Amin Fahim Chairman ARD has issued the following statement today.

"My attention has been drawn to the press conference by PML(N) leader Chaudhry Nisar Ahmad today in which he expressed certain reservations about the PPP as component party in the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy.

"I have not seen the full report of Chaudhry Nisar’s press conference. It seems to me that some of his observations are based on misunderstanding that need to be placed in correct perspective.

"It is not abnormal or strange for misunderstandings to crop up between political parties in any alliance. However there is no misunderstanding that cannot be clarified or resolved through dialogue and negotiations.

"As regards Mr. Asif Zardari’s mention of dialogue with the rulers to which Chaudhry Nisar has alluded in his press conference, there is indeed nothing new or strange in the statement of Mr. Asif Zardari.

"The ARD believes and has reiterated its belief so many times that it is not shy of dialogue with the rulers to resolve the political issues facing the country. In talking about dialogue with the rulers Mr. Asif Zardari has only articulated ARD’s stated position.

"Dialogue has been held from time to time by all political parties with the regime and it is different from striking deal with the rulers.

"It is my firm belief that any misunderstandings on this and other issues will be removed after the leaders of the two parties in the ARD have met and discussed".

Bhutto says use of force exposed Govt's anti democracy policies

ISLAMABAD, April 20: Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party Benazir Bhutto has saluted the PPP workers who travelled from the Khunjrab Pass and Karachi upcountry to welcome PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari joining tens of thousands of other PPP workers and supporters of democracy along the way.
"The Party and I are proud of my brothers and sisters who had overcome all obstacles to reach Lahore", she said in a statement today.

She said that the cowardly reaction of the authorities clearly demonstrated the fear they had of the PPP flood that swept everything away in its path to reach Lahore where the authorities arrested tens of thousands of PPP workers.

The former Prime Minister said that the mass mobilization of the PPP demonstrated that it expressed the aspirations, hopes and dreams of the millions of people across the land who wanted to end misery, suffering, hunger, unemployment and inflation by bringing regime.

The parliamentary system produced by the October 2002 elections had failed dismally in addressing the peoples problems or paving the path for the transfer of power from dictatorship to democracy.

She said that the authorities had kidnapped workers of the PPP and were holding them incommunicado. Moreover, the workers had been brutally beaten suffering fractures, broken ribs, head wounds and injuries resulting in loss of blood. However, the workers never flinched in the face of such brutalities knowing that tyranny must be faced with courage.

The PPP was committed to defend the values of truth, honesty, honour and human dignity that a democratic order alone could uphold, she said.

The former Prime Minister also demanded the release of all PPP workers. She called upon the Parliamentarians to raise the issue in the Parliament and not to rest until each and every PPP workers was released.

Benazir Bhutto thanked the members of the Lahore Bar Association, the Pakistan Human Rights Commission and the PLF lawyers for setting up committees to secure the release of PPP workers.

She thanked the media for highlighting the state brutalities despite being targeted themselves.

She noted that Senator Zardari returned to Pakistan despite eight years in Jail, including torture and threats, to demonstrate solidarity with the people of Pakistan in their search for freedom and emancipation from dictatorship, poverty, backwardness and hunger.

Bhutto condemned the cowardly authorities who could not face the PPP politically and resorted to brutal measures of repression and suppression. The authorities had damaged the image of Pakistan internationally with scenes of honest women and men from middle classes being pushed into police vans, being beaten and hauled up to police stations and jails. She said that such people who damaged Pakistan's standing domestically and internationally had no right to remain in power.

The former Prime Minister said that despite threats and intimidation, Asif Ali Zardari had successfully reached Lahore and his presence would help organize the Party and mobilize its workers.

She said that the return of Asif Ali Zardari has less to do with the return of a leading political figure and more to do with the democratic rights of the people. The regime was falsely claiming that democracy was restored. The return of Mr. Zardari was to put on test whether the democratic values of freedom of movement, freedom of association, freedom of political association were available in Pakistan. It was clear that they were not and only the tyranny of force existed under the veneer of a parliamentary system. This parliamentary system was not based on the will of the people or their mandate but on the use of brute force by hidden forces, she said.

Secondly she said that the regime claimed that it was seeking support from liberal forces and that it wanted to build an enlightened society. However, the intolerant, immoderate and extremist reaction to a peaceful political rally clearly demonstrated that the regime was incapable of defending the values of enlightenment.

Third, she pointed out that the regime claimed that it was not conspiring with the MMA to blackmail the world community to accept military dictatorship or face the religious take over. However, the return of Mr. Zardari demonstrated that the regime was indeed conspiring to allow the MMA political freedom and deny the same to the moderate Opposition. This was a dangerous policy that could backfire on the nation just as support to extremist elements in the Afghan Mujahaideen had backfired resulting in the emergence of the Taliban and the Al Qaeda.

Fourth, Bhutto said that the regime claimed that it was working for reconciliation. Under this policy the regime claimed that an even political field would be allowed to all the political parties. However, this was also a false claim at reconciliation. The PPP had legitimate grievance that its was being denied the political space being given to the MMA and the ruling PML Q as well as to others who were free to hold meetings, rallies, processions and bus in their supporters from different parts of the country without hindrance from the authorities.

The former Prime Minister said that the cowardly authorities refused to give permission to the plane that was chartered to bring Mr. Zardari back to Pakistan even after it had put up tents in jails to house the tens of thousands of persons arrested. Mr. Zardari had to fly by a scheduled plane and there was thus a change in his arrival timing. The regime refused to give the arrival time of Mr. Zardari to cause confusion amongst those who were to receive him.

Bhutto said that the PPP would continue with its peaceful political struggle with its Parliamentarians, workers and supporters. She asked how many rallies could the authorities break, how many people could they imprison, how many processions could they stop without demonstrating their inability to implement law, provide political freedoms or to give stability. The reaction of the authorities showed they were out of control and could not govern or give Pakistan stability, she said.

She said that the peoples struggle needed determination, courage and dedication. The regime expected the PPP and its allies to be the first to blink in the face of brutalities. However, she called upon the PPP workers not to blink and be ready to give the sacrifice of facing brutalities. It was with such determination, she said, that fair elections could be forced.

600 PPPP activists released from Lahore jail

More than 600 Pakistan People Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) activists and supporters from all the four provinces including Kashmir were released from Lahore District Jail on Tuesday.

It must be mentioned here that the arrested activists and supporters from all the four provinces including Kashmir came to Lahore to welcome spouse of former PM of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari.

The release activists included Central Deputy Chief Organizer AJK Shaukat Javed Mir, Chairman PSF Raja Faisal Azad, Leader PPP Raja Sajjad advocate, Sardar Abdul Rahman, Shaheen along with other leaders from Kashmir, Sindh, Balochistan, NWFP and other areas.

It is pertinent to mention that activists in large numbers were arrested under penal Code 16MPO and section 188 on April 15.

She said she was proud of loyalty and commitment to of the workers but at the same time would not want them to offer the supreme sacrifice of killing themselves.

EU snub for hardline Pakistan MP
Mr ul-Haq (L) is part of the hardline Islamist alliance in Pakistan
 

The European Parliament has refused to meet a delegation of Pakistani MPs that included an Islamic scholar it said had close links to the Taleban. It said it could not meet an individual who did not meet its "ideals of democracy, equality and human rights".

Senator Maulana Sami ul-Haq also heads a seminary in Pakistan that has been called the "University of Jihad".

Pakistan's ambassador in Brussels said the parliament's move was "unfortunate" and an "opportunity missed".

The Pakistani delegation of eight senators - four from the government and four from the opposition, including Mr ul-Haq, are heading home.

British Labour MEP, Neena Gill, leader of the EU parliament's South Asia inter-parliamentary committee, said: "The European Parliament espouses the ideals of democracy, equality and human rights.

"While we have members who represent all shades of the political spectrum, we are all working within the framework of a fully functioning democracy.

"We cannot condone therefore individuals who place themselves outside these parameters, for they represent everything we stand against."

Ms Gill said she would recommend improving the vetting system so that the parliament was more aware of the composition of delegation members.

The Pakistani delegation was due to meet the parliament's South Asia committee, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and a range of other MEPs.

Pakistan's ambassador in Brussels, Saeed Khalid, expressed disappointment at the cancellation.

"Even if you grant that you have a big difference of opinion you should talk about it. And this was an opportunity missed," he told BBC News.

Mr ul-Haq is part of the hardline Islamist alliance that forms a strong bloc in Pakistan's lower house.

CHAUDHRIES REFUSE TO RELEASE BAILED PPP WORKERS
 

After releasing few workers from Sindh, the Punjab government has refused to release the others even after admission of their bails by courts. Their release orders were being typed when a notification was sent to magistrates and jail authorities to add a new provision of 7ATA relating to terrorism along with 16MPO and 188 PPC, by this cases will now be tried by the Terrorist courts. This is a heinous act of the Punjab government.

Detention orders are issued to re-arrest the bailed out workers in gross abuse and disregard of human rights.

Today, Lawyers of PLF Mian M.Jehangir, Farooq Naik, Hanif Tahir, Mian Shaukat Ali, Iftekhar Shahid, Rashid Lodhi, Amir Hussain Hashmi, Khalid Hashmi, Shakeel Pasha and Moazam Iqbal Butt demanded release orders from judges of different courts but the Magistrates denied by saying that they were waiting orders from Session judges and Home department.

What is PPP and Zardari Getting in Return for Non-Defiance and Conciliation
 

ISLAMABAD, April 21: The prodigal son is back - much chastened, sobered, seasoned and sedate than the man we knew a decade ago. There is no trace of haughtiness in his demeanor or bitterness in his utterances against his tormentors.

He seems more accommodating and conciliatory than any other contemporary leader in the country, at least towards the establishment which has hounded and demonized him, his spouse and repressed his party for so long.

On landing at the Lahore Airport, Asif Zardari was shown utmost respect and he calmly let them drive him to his new residence in Lahore. On reaching there, Mr. Zardari thanked God for being at home safe and secure. He discounted reports of his arrest saying he was only under “protective custody” (remember Zia’s words for Bhutto after the coup). Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi sardonically claimed that the government has provided security to Mr. Zardari at his request and there was no restriction on his movement.

That was not to be the fate of nearly five dozen journalists who had accompanied Zardari in the coveted return flight. They were thrashed, humiliated and deprived of tools of trade by security goons who pounced on them as soon as Mr. Zardari left the scene. Nor were the dozens of PPP lawmakers and tens of thousands of party activists and common workers so lucky.

In a brutal countrywide crackdown they were insulted, abused, shoved and beaten before being locked up in jails. Hundreds of them are still languishing in prisons and facing charges under draconian anti-terrorist laws. We hear only muted voices of protest from the leadership in their support.

Asif’s return promised to be a seminal event in national politics, not matching that of his spouse’s 1986 odyssey because that was something out of the other world which cannot be repeated. But the very prospect of his comeback had thrilled and energized workers and aroused immense interest among common citizens in the country and abroad.

There was an atmosphere of suspense, excitement and expectation. The national politics was supposed to experience a new convulsion. For too long the country’s biggest party had been kept in torpor, inflicted on it by confusion, self-doubt, indecision and lack of direction. There were now new stirrings in the wind as the behemoth looked like awakening.

Asif changed his flight schedule and decided to make it a quiet affair. Party workers who had escaped arrests but were staging sit-in on roads when blocked to travel, were asked to return home. The only reason cited was that the chartered flight had been refused landing permission and an Aero Asia flight marshaled a week earlier for contingency, would now reach Lahore early morning, foreclosing a public welcome.

It became evident that the whole thing had been scripted and Asif had chosen to play ball. What were his compulsions and did he have any option? It can be said he saved the day from lot of potential bloodletting that could have resulted from a show down. The workers were spared from a horrible ordeal. The government escaped further embarrassment within and abroad. The script writers were more worried to let the big event in New Delhi, the Musharraf-Manmohan bear hug, pass on unscathed. They did not want to see it overshadowed by scenes on the Lahore streets and ultimately managed to enforce a drop scene and draw the curtain.

Many, however, doubt if the government could have stood before a determined swathe of people. The MMA had proved it more than once. The detractors have got an opportunity to claim it was a put up show, a subterfuge. That is a very devastating perception for any party or leader, as people, howsoever docile, cannot continence deceit.

There comes a defining moment in the life of nations, parties and individuals, that determines their fate or place in history. It makes or unmakes them, depending on how they react to seize it. On his journey to Jerusalem in 1977, Anwar Sadat who harbored the illusion of being great, haughtily pronounced to the world that he loathes to live “among the pygmies”. In the 1978 Camp David Accord with Israel’s Menachem Begin he got Sinai back for Egypt. But it locked Sadat’s country into a cold peace and near-bankrupt political isolation. Are we witnessing a replay in Pakistan in the name of conciliation?

Gen. Zia hanged ZA Bhutto but could not kill him. In his defiance, Bhutto became immortal and lives today in the hearts of his people and touches a softer chord even among detractors. When he stood up to Ghulam Ishaq Khan, refusing to accept the diktat, Nawaz Sharif became a leader though he lost his crown. Zardari valiantly endured most trying years in prison and won back respect and admiration from even bitter critics. His defiance has been his biggest credit and one wished him to persist with that.

But, today he seems to be hanging in the wind, knowing little which way he would be tossed around by string pullers. For that is what he has opted for. There is no mention of whatever defines his party and distinguishes it from rivals. All we hear is accepting the fait accompli and bow to the pre-eminence of the military and its involvement in every sphere of national life. The big issues like restoration of supremacy of parliament and the constitution, poverty, unemployment, widening gap between rich and poor, price hike etc. find scant attention.

It is not difficult to have empathy with Benazir or Zardari for their dilemma. No family in our history has suffered and sacrificed even half as much as the Bhuttos. There is yet no reprieve. Ms. Bhutto has been living in exile for eight years and her children have grown without the affectionate hugs of their father. A raft of cases at home and in Switzerland hang like Damocles’ sword. Asif has spent the longest incarceration in our political history. He is only on bail and faces cases on charges ranging from graft to murder.

The couple has been vilified, maligned and slandered which has no precedence. Hitherto they had endured it with remarkable courage, fortitude and perseverance. How long should they continue to do so? Should they capitulate and relent or resist and suffer more?

There are no easy answers to these questions. Whatever path they choose, there is a price to pay. At the moment they seem to have opted for conciliation and compromise. The nagging question is what do they get in return? The conciliation mantra we hear from Asif appears more of a tactical ploy when it is uttered by Musharraf. Ms. Bhutto bailed him out after 2002 elections and saw her party being split. She again came to his rescue at a crucial moment last December when he refused to shed his uniform and the PPP declined to be part of an anti-Musharraf campaign. So far all that he has paid them back is Zardari’s temporary freedom and “safe” return. Ms. Bhutto pins her hopes of a return on the extent the regime tolerates Asif’s activities.

There is no doubt that Shaikh Rashid mirrors what the general thinks and plans, though one would like to forgive his coarse and boorish diction. See what scorn he pours on Zardari and his ability to become a leader, much less a Nelson Mandela. Who would give credence to the perception that whatever happened on April 16 did not have the blessings of the center?

Will the PPP see the fulfillment of vain hopes for level playing field in coming elections, which Musharraf insists would be held in 2007 dashing PPP’s expectations? Will he abandon his present allies? If Washington has written the script, what has it offered to Ms. Bhutto so far?

How is that all senior officials in Washington shun her when she visits there? If growing power of the MMA really bothers the West, as Asif would have us believe, how come they have permitted Musharraf to make it grow into a monster at the cost of liberal parties? Is he really serious in taking on the MMA and enforce his so-called enlightened moderation on which point the PPP is willing to make a common cause with him?

Having thrown in the towel before the establishment, will the PPP confine itself to fighting battles in provinces giving up its role as a national party? What issues would it agitate? Is the PPP juggernaut really on the move – but backwards? These and many other questions need more detailed analysis.

Pakistan's leaders on edge as Bhutto's husband returns
Declan Walsh in Lahore
Monday April 18, 2005

After flying through the night, Asif Zardari sat tensely in row 19 as his plane nosed towards Lahore. Mr Zardari, the husband of the exiled opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, was expecting trouble.

Government offers compromise to Zardari on arrival in Lahore

 By Mubasher Bukhari

LAHORE: The government has told Mr Asif Zardari that after landing at Lahore Airport, he would be able to go to Minar-e-Pakistan by helicopter and address a public gathering there if he abandoned plans to lead a rally from the airport, said PPP sources.

Ms Bhutto and Mr Zardari are considering this option. The PPP has not yet confirmed whether Mr Zardari will return by a commercial or chartered flight. The Pakistan People’s Party is considering another move to counter the government’s plans to stifle the reception for Zardari on April 16, the most stunning of which could be the return of Ms Bhutto on the same flight. “Ms Bhutto has discussed the idea of her return with Mr Zardari on April 16 and she may do so to stun the rulers and the masses,” said a PPP official in Dubai. “Ms Bhutto believes that this is a suitable time for her return because the political atmosphere in Pakistan is hot.” On the other hand, the provincial government has conveyed a message to Mr Zardari asking him to land somewhere outside Punjab, but he has refused. “Now the government has chalked out a contingency plan under which it may change the destination of Mr Zardari’s flight on April 16,” said a Punjab government official.

Musharraf willing to talk to Bhutto-one day
By David Brunnstrom and Sheree Sardar

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani military ruler President Pervez Musharraf said on Thursday he wouldbe willing to meet opposition leader-in-exile Benazir Bhutto to advance rapprochement with liberal forces, but not yet.

Musharraf told Reuters Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party was not helping reconciliation by planning rallies thisSaturday to welcome back her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, from a visit to her in exile in Dubai.

"Moderate forces need to unite to suppress the extremist forces," Musharraf said in an interview when asked aboutreconciliation with liberal parties such as Bhutto's. "This is what I think is extremely important from a nationalperspective."

"Within this, any kind of talks or negotiations or rapprochement, one would be willing to do," he said.

Asked whether he was willing to meet Bhutto personally, Musharraf, who has not hidden his distaste for the formerprime minister in the past, replied: "That time has not come as yet; when the time comes, yes, one doesn't mindmeeting anyone.

"But at the moment it's not right at all, especially with whatever is happening now," he said referring to the PPP'srally plans in the eastern city of Lahore, which the party says authorities have tried to block by arresting thousands ofsupporters.

"The attempt to disturb law and order in Lahore on the 16th is not conducive to good, harmonious relations," saidMusharraf, who is due to leave for India that day in an attempt to move forward a slow-moving peace process.

Authorities have effectively barred the PPP from holding a rally in Lahore to welcome Zardari by extending atemporary ban on gatherings of more than three people.

Musharraf defended the ban.

RISK OF CHAOS AND CONFUSION

"Processions are not allowed," he said. "In Pakistan, if you allow processions they will break down the windowpanes and the traffic lights, and you end up with chaos and confusion."

Asked why authorities nevertheless let the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, a six-party alliance of religious parties thathave traditionally supported the military, to hold anti-government rallies across Pakistan in recent months, Musharrafsaid those gatherings were more orderly.

Bhutto, prime minister for two terms in the 1980s and 1990s, has lived in self-imposed exile for fear of arrest oncorruption charges since 1999 and Musharraf has in the past said she would not be allowed to return to politics.

However, apparently seeking to bolster his power base and respond to Western critics pushing him to lift curbs ondemocracy, he has softened his position in recent months.

Officials say behind-the-scene talks have taken place between Bhutto and the general's aides to discuss arapprochement with politicians sidelined since he seized power in a 1999 coup, but little concrete progress has beenseen.

Zardari was released from prison on bail in November after eight years in jail on charges ranging from corruptionto murder and his release raised speculation Musharraf might try to improve relations with Bhutto's party.

The latest detentions of PPP activists have come as the cabinet approved legal reforms on Wednesday, whichBhutto's lawyer said could allow her return from exile.

The draft reforms, aimed at making justice more transparent, include proposals to give women the automatic rightto bail, except in cases of murder, terrorism, narcotics or robbery.

Bhutto's lawyer Babur Awan said the reforms, which still need Cabinet approval, should enable her to return fromexile since the legal cases against her were bailable.

Memorandum presented to Canadian Foreign Minister

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto supports concept of Enlightened Moderation
Pakistan Times Foreign Desk

LONDON (UK): Pakistan's ex-Prime Minister and PPP Chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has said she supports the concept of enlightened moderation presented by General Pervez Musharraf.

In an interview with ARY TV channel aired on Monday, she said the return of her husband, Asif Ali Zardari to Pakistan on April-16 is a test case for the present government.

She said political reconciliation does not mean compromise on principles rather it is extremely necessary for the stability of Pakistan.

She reminded that when Zardari was in jail, PML (Q) President Ch Shujaat Hussain had backed his release, adding “now I understand that Ch Shujaat will demonstrate political prudence and foresight on return of Zardari.”

“Zardari is going to Punjab because it is part of Pakistan and the largest province of the country,” she said, adding the PPP is a democratic party and backs the revival of genuine democracy in the country.

Calls for Fresh Polls

Reiterating her demand for the holding of fresh general elections in 2005, Ms Benazir Bhutto said that the present political system has lost its significance and effectiveness.

Responding to a question, she said she neither recently held meeting nor telephonic conversations with President Musharraf.

Five individuals are taking decisions on national matters, the PPP chief said by adding “the real power rests with these five and not with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz or Ch Shujaat Hussain.” “The decisions taken by these five individuals are told to them,” she viewed.

Ms Benazir Bhutto was of the view, what she phrased as; "PM Shaukat Aziz and Ch Shujaat had no authority to take any decision freely and even cannot transfer or appoint any bureaucrat on their own."

Replying to a question that as to why the US is forcing President Musharraf and the PPP to cooperate with each other on national and other matters, she said: “I have no knowledge about this and have never been forced to do so yet I read this only in newspapers. Go and ask from them instead of me,” Ms Bhutto remarked

Sindh PPP to welcome Zardari in Lahore

Karachi, April 14, 2005: The Pakistan Peoples Party, Sindh chapter, vowed on Monday that 200,000 supporters from Sindh would reach Lahore airport to join in the reception for Asif Zardari on April 16 defying all restrictions and hurdles.

The Sindh Council of the PPP met here to discuss the arrangements for reception and ARD Secretary-General Zafar Iqbal Jhagra said the ARD parties would also participate in the reception.

“Basically, it will be a PPP show, but we’ll also participate,” he told the Daily Times here at a reception on Monday.

Qaim Ali Shah, provincial president of the PPP, presided over the hurriedly-called meeting of the Sindh Council at the Peoples Secretariat where members of the council attended the meeting.

Briefing journalists after the meeting, Qaim Ali Shah said the district bodies’ reports vis-à-vis reception arrangements were discussed. “We received encouraging response from the districts. Hundreds of thousands of people want to be in Lahore to welcome Asif Zardari,” he said.

Manzoor Wassan, sitting next to him, told journalists that 200,000 supporters from Sindh would reach Lahore Airport. Qaim Ali Shah said the party had decided that Asif Zardari would return and we would reach Lahore to receive him. He said the party would resist the government’s ban on the reception. Raza Rabbani, deputy secretary-general of the PPP, made clear at another press conference at the Sindh Assembly that Asif Zardari was not an alternative leadership and Benazir Bhutto was chairperson of the party. He said he didn’t read the statement of Asif Zardari that he would become prime minister.

He said this would not be the first time that hurdles would be created in the way of the PPP and “our reaction to that will also be not new.” Wassan said his party had formulated its own strategy to counter the government’s restrictions against the party. He didn’t elaborate the party’s strategy.

MNA Pir Aftab Jilani, Abdul Sattar Bachani, Rashid Rabbani, Dr Fehmida Mirza, Dr Karim Khuwaja, Ghous Ali Shah, Rehmatullah Sarki and other members of the Sindh Council attended the meeting

PPP’s rejoinder to Shaikh Rashid

Islamabad April 9,2005: PPP Vice Chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim has denounced the statement of Information Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmad that Senator Zardari’s return to Pakistan on April 16 could undermine the possibility of broad based reconciliation with the political parties.

The Federal Information Minister said in an interview that the broad based reconciliation with political parties would flounder on the rocks if Senator Zardari returned to Pakistan and held public meetings.

In a statement today Makhdoom Amin Fahim that it was surprising that on the one hand the regime claimed of working for a broad based reconciliation with democratic political parties to over come the political problems facing the country and on other hand it threatened these very parties.

He said that holding of political meetings and reaching out to the masses with their political message was a basic democratic and constitutional right of the parties. The religious parties grouped under the MMA, the MQM and the ruling PML (Q) all are holding rallies, public meetings and million marches to mobilize people with their message. How can the democratic parties be denied this right, he asked.

He said that earlier cases against political leaders who dropped the demand for democracy or joined the regime’s bandwagon were withdrawn while parties like the PPP are still being hounded in the name of accountability. Now these parties are asked not even to speak in public in support of democracy, constitutionalism and rule of law.

Last week the Information Minister had said that that there was no pressure on the regime for reconciliation with PPP.

Now to prove his point the PPP is being stopped from carrying out its normal political activities, Makhdoom Amin Fahim said.

He said that by not yielding to democratic norms and insisting on punishing the PPP through measure such as the breaking up of PPP districts and the persecuting PPP leadership through the politically motivated NAB the rulers had made their intentions known to the people.

He said that the regime claims to be under no pressure for an understanding with the political parties. But when it comes to policies in areas such as support for Taliban and Laskhkar e Tayaba and opening dialogue with India, it is well known that it buckles under pressure.

Makhdoom Amin Fahim said that the announcements and statements by government functionaries had exposed the talk of so called reconciliation with democratic political parties was merely a public relations exercise.

He said that return of Senator Asif Zardari and local elections will expose the regime’s real intentions.

Government violating Constitution
Senator Raza Rabbani

Mohtarma Bhutto condoles death of Raja Anwar

Islamabad April 9, 2005: Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has condoled the death of eminent jurist Raja Muhammad Anwar.

In a condolence message the former Prime Minister said that Raja Anwar was not only an outstanding legal mind but also a compassionate and fine human being whose death will be mourned by many for a long time to come. She said that she was impressed with his legal acumen which he demonstrated in abundance while defending her from court to court in trumped up and politically cases against her.

She said that Raja Anwar and his family had made great sacrifices for the cause of democracy and rule of law and the void created by his death will not be easy to fill. A soft spoken and mild tempered man as he was Raja Anwar endeared every one who came in contact with him she said.

His soft exterior concealed a strong inner self, which refused to compromise with dictatorship, the former Prime Minister said. Mohtarma Bhutto also prayed to Allah to rest his soul in eternal peace and to grant courage to members of the bereaved family to bear the loss with equanimity.

Senate chief disallows PPP resolution: Armed forces commercial activities

By Arshad Sharif

ISLAMABAD, March 9: Senate Chairman Mohammad mian Soomro has disallowed a resolution, moved by a Pakistan People's Party senator, urging that the military should not be involved in commercial and industrial activities on the ground that the resolution was too general in nature.

The resolution, moved by PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar on February 16 for being taking up on the next Private Member's Day, said: "This House is of the view that the armed forces should not be involved in commercial and industrial activities."

A Senate letter, R.D No 16-20/2005-Q dated March 7, addressed to the mover said the subject matter of the resolution was too general and that the chairman has been pleased to hold the resolution to be inadmissible under rule 121 (3) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 1988.

The resolution was killed on Monday when the auditor general's report was presented before the National Assembly, identifying corruption to the tune of millions of rupees in the commercial ventures of the defence services.

When contacted, Senator Farhatullah Babar confirmed that the Senate Secretariat had disallowed his resolution. He, however, contested the ground on which the resolution was disallowed, quoting Rule 121(1) on the subject, which read: "A resolution may be in the form of a declaration of opinion or a recommendation; or convey a message; or commend, urge or request an action; or call attention to a matter or situation for consideration by the government."

Quoting Rule 121(3), Senator Babar said: "It shall be clearly and precisely expressed and shall raise substantially one definite issue." He said increasing engagements of the armed forces in commercial and industrial activities was "substantially one definite issue under Rule 121(3) and the resolution was precisely in the form of a declaration of opinion and to convey a message as provided for in Rule 121(1).

Senator Babar said it was a "definite issue" which had also been commented upon nationally and internationally. "British High Commissioner Mark Lyall Grant created a diplomatic stir last week when he publicly remarked that during the past 28 years, the military's corporate business interests had increased manifold and that this was hampering poverty reduction efforts and the efficacy of the judiciary and bureaucracy in the country," he said. When Mr Grant's comments were published in Dawn on March 2, the Foreign Office summoned the British envoy to serve a demarche on him, he added.  

Senator Babar said Dawn also commented editorially on March 4 as to what extent the commercial activity was compatible with the armed forces professionalism.

PESHAWAR, April 5: A former MPA and leader of the Awami National Party of Mardan district has joined the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

Announcing his joining of the party, Said Rehman Mohmand on Saturday said: "I have remained an active worker of the PPP in the past and assure full support to the party in future too."

Highlighting the PPP importance, he said it was a national party as its motive remained solidarity of the country. The PPP had a successful foreign policy, and the world had recognised it, he remarked.

About his affiliation with the party, he said: "I joined the party in 1974, and contested the election for district council Mardan in 1979, on PPP's ticket and was elected as chairman."

He said that in 1988 general election, he had been elected MPA from the PPP platform. He reposed full confidence in the leadership of Benazir Bhutto.

Speaking on the occasion, provincial PPP president Rahimdad Khan said: "People consider that only the PPP can help steer the country out of the current crises and put it on the path of development", he claimed.

Mohtarma Bhutto condoles death of Pope John Paul

Islamabad April 4, 2005: Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has condoled the death of Pope John Paul 11 who died Saturday in the Vatican City.

In a condolence message on behalf of the Party and on her own behalf the former Prime Minister said that the head of the Roman Catholic church will be long remembered as a man of peace and vision who strove hard to establish inter faith harmony and for peace in the world.

He was adored by many and was in a way the most recognised person in the world, she said.

A large number of people saw him as an ardent supporter of orthodoxy within his own church but for even greater number of people he stands out as a champion of the downtrodden throughout the more than quarter of a century that he strode on the world stage, she said.

The former Prime Minister said that the late Pope battled with several afflictions of old age with a courage and tenacity that characterised his fight for peace and the amelioration of the downtrodden. His sapped stamina and ailing health were not strong enough deterrents to prevent him from ushering the Church into the New Millennium and himself become the third longest surviving Pope in the history.

At a time when people spreading doom and gloom predicted a clash of civilisation John Paul stood for inter faith harmony and dialogue, she said.

Mohtarma Bhutto said that from the time John Paul said in Africa soon after becoming Pope, 'I speak in the name of those who have no voice', the period of his papacy was a period of speaking for the oppressed and downtrodden.

She said that in these troubled times there was a need to strengthen the hand of friendship that he had extended to the people of other faiths.

He was he first pontiff to visit Pakistan in 1981 and the first pontiff to enter a mosque in Damascus in 2001, the former Prime Minister recalled.

She also prayed for the soul of Pope John Paul 11 to rest in eternal peace.

Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s anniversary commemorated in Islamabad/Rawalpindi

Islamabad, 4 April 2005: The 26th anniversary of Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was commemorated in twin cities today in which rich tributes were paid to the first directly elected Prime Minister and architect of unanimous constitution of 1973 and the father of Pakistani Nuclear Programme.

In this regard Quran Khwani was arranged by Nargis Faiz Malik, President Women Wing PPP, Islamabad at the Central Secretariat attended by members national assembly Zamurad Khan, Fauzia Wahab, Member Punjab Assembly Ishfaq Mirza and a large number of local PPP leadership including Dr. Asrar Shah, Babar Minhas, Agha Riazul Islam, Rashid Mir, Qazi Sultan Mehmood, Khalid Nawaz Boby, Ms. Azmat Jabeen, Ibrar Rizvi, Asghar Gujar, Palwasha Behram, Ms. Shamim Ijaz, Mansha Bokhari, Ms. Saima Khar, Shakeel Abbasi, Jahangir Akhtar, Ibne Rizvi, Javed Mir, Ansar Gilani, Banaras Chaudhry, Saleem Mughal and Shaukat Swati.

Addressing the gathering Nargis Faiz Malik, Fauzia Habib and other speakers paying glowing tributes to Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto said that the peoples’ leader lives in the hearts of the people and he is being recognised as single most effective influence in Pakistan politics even by his opponents today. The gathering expressed its resolve to continue its struggle for restoration of 1973 Constitution in its letter and spirit. They also resolved that with the help of peoples’ power, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto will be made prime minister the third time. Lunger was distributed after Quran Khawani.

Quran Khwani was also arranged by the PPP Rawalpindi at the "Phansi Ghat" in Rawalpindi. PPP member national assembly Zamurad Khan in his address at Phansi Ghat said that the ideology of Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is needed in the current political situation not only for Pakistan but for every third world country of the world. He said that the chaos now we are witnessing in the third world could only be removed by following the ideals and principles of the great leader. He said that the history of the party is full of sacrifices and the workers who have sacrificed for democratic struggle and for creating a just society envisaged by Quaid-e-Awam are the real asset of the party. Quran Khawani at Phansi Ghat was attended by Malik Hakmeen, Col. Habib, Amer Piracha, Rashid Abbasi, Nasir Mir, Sabiha Syed MPA, Baji Nusrat Rasheed, Raja Altaf Hussain, Ms. Azra Bano MPA, Sardar Shaukat Hayat, Chaudhry Waris, Sajid Tanoli, Asad Abbasi and others.

PPP Rebuts Shaikh Rashid

Islamabad April 4, 2005: A spokesman of the PPP has issued the following statement today.

"The assertion by the Information Minister that the PPP wants the international community to support the restoration of democracy in Pakistan through military force is absolutely wrong and malicious and is condemned.

The Information Minister has said that the PPP leadership wanted the international community to restore democracy by "bombing of Pakistan".

"The Minister ought to know that neither Saddam Hussein in Iraq nor the Taliban in Afghanistan were doled huge financial, political and military assistance by Washington as Islamabad had been receiving.

"The international community therefore had leverage in Pakistan.

"The people of Pakistan must know that their democratic rights are respected as much as the democratic rights of non allied countries. That is why the PPP urges the international community to use its leverage with Islamabad for the restoration of democracy in the country".

Mohtarma Bhutto’s speech at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh clarified

Islamabad April 6, 2005: A section of the press has reported Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s speech at the twenty sixth death anniversary of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh in Larkana in a way which needs to be clarified.

Clarifying a spokesman of the Party said that the former Prime Minister in her address criticized the political system produced by the rigged elections of 2002 for failing to alleviate poverty or to introduce much needed judicial, educational or gender reforms.

She said that since the political system produced by the Parliamentary elections of 2002 had failed to deliver, the PPP was calling for fresh elections this year open to all political parties and personalities so that the unity an integrity of the country could be safeguarded and the people led on to the path of progress and prosperity.

Mohtarma Bhutto further said that while there is contact with the regime there is no deal as yet. The PPP is keeping the door s of dialogue open to facilitate the transition to democracy.

The Chairperson PPP also said that that the PPP expected its legal and constitutional rights to be respected and said that freedom of movement, freedom of association and freedom of speech would be tested on April 16 when Senator Asif Zardari returned to Lahore.

She hoped that the regime would show the same attitude towards the PPP rights to freedom as it had entertained for itself and permitted for the MQM, the MMA and to the political parties.

She also said that the forthcoming local elections would be a trial run for the regime to demonstrate that it was interested in ensuring that the next general elections would be fair, free and impartial and that political orphans, a term used for the ruling PML (Q) would not be allowed to rig the process, the spokesman said.

A section of the press confusing the political system produced by the October 2002 elections with the military regime incorrectly reported that the PPP leader had shut that the door on the process of dialogue with the military regime.

NAB moved against Lt Gen Touqir Zia former Chairman Cricket Board
 

Islamabad April 7, 2005: Pakistan Peoples Party has asked the National Accountability Bureau to move a reference against Lt. Gen. (Retd) Touqir Zia, Ex-Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board for taking home an expensive official car at less then half of its original price in violation of government policy.

Citing recent press reports the PPP complaint said that the ex Chairman had himself framed policy for the transfer of official vehicles to Board officials including himself in July 2003 to justify the transfer of the latest model official vehicles.

"The policy notification issued by the former Chairman was in violation of the Government procedure for disposing of the vehicles that are sold through an open auction", the PPP complaint said.

Three other senior officials of PCB dealing with Treasury, Logistics and finance also benefited from this policy, it said.

Besides Lt General Touqir Zia others named in the complaint are two General Managers of the Board, G.M (Finance) and G. M (Logistics).

The complaint says that the respondent ‘fall within the ambit of NAB Ordinance 1999 for the purpose of investigation trial and punishment’ under Section 10 of NAB Ordinance for ‘causing a financial loss to the national exchequer by corruption and corrupt practice’.

In June 2000 the PCB purchased a Honda City car for Rs. 750,000. Three years later in 2003 Touqir Zia paid only Rs.339,940/- and transferred the car bearing registration number LXR 1983 in his name before leaving the office of Chairman PCB.

"Instead of disposing of vehicle through an open auction as per Government policy in public sector institutions the vehicle price was shown to be depreciated by Rs.410,160/- and was transferred to Touqir Zia retired Lt. Gen", it said.

"The respondents have shown willful indulgence in corrupt practices under Section 9 of the Ordinance and are subject to punishment under Section 10 of the Ordinance".

"As such the Chairman of the NAB is called upon to initiate investigation and further proceed to file a reference against respondents in the competent court of law and proceed against them".

PPP commemorates 26th Anniversary of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
 

Islamabad, 5 April 2005: The 26th anniversary of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was commemorated all over the world and several functions were organised by Pakistan Peoples Party Holland, Kuwait, United States and United Kingdom.

Glowing tributes were paid to the first directly elected Prime Minister Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto at a gathering in Aroza hotel Amsterdam, Holland presided over by member legislative assembly Azad Kashmir, Raja Mujahid. A message from Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was read out at the occasion. Speakers Raja Mujahid, Raja Riaz, Saifullah Saify, Karamat Ali, Nasir Nizami, Muzahir Bukhari, Khawaja Aftab, Raja Ilyas, Zafar Iqbal, Khizr Hayat, Malik Mohammad Afzal and Munir Jamil praised the contribution of Shaheed Chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in Pakistan, assuming the role of leader of Islamic world. Making of constitution of in 1973, labour and land reforms. They said that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto will always be remembered for creating political awareness amongst the poor and downtrodden of Pakistan. They pledges to form unity in the ranks of the people under the leadership of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto to advance the objectives of the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Pakistan. They also demanded that the present regime must allow the leadership of two major parties of Pakistan to play their role for the betterment of the country.

A commemorative meeting was held at PPP International Secretariat in London where first Mulsim QC Barrister Shibghatullah Qadir was the chief guest. Mr Nazir Geaylani (HRC General Secretary, Jammu Kashmir) and PPP UK General Secretary Tariq Ayub, PPP UK Finance Committee co-ordinator Mian Afzal Khalid, PPP Manchester Senior Vice President Kh. Kaleem, party ticket holder Ch.Qader, members of Federal Council Ch. Mehboob, Farooq Ahmed, Sahibzada Ikram ul Haque, Mr Riaz Chaudry and Mohsin Bari and other party leaders and large number of party workers were present.

A meeting in this regard was held at the residence of Ali Nawaz Memon, Seniro Vice President PPP, USA in Maryland attended by Senator Abdullah Riar, Dr. Javed Manzoor, Basir Chand, Dr. Sarfraz Memon and a large number of party workers and suppoerters. Prayers were offered for the soul of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The gathering expressed confidence that the Party will get sweeping success in the next general elections.

Pakistan Peoples Party Kuwait held a commemorative meeting in which prayers were offered for the soul of Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and rich tributes were paid to the peoples’ leader. Speakers at the occasion said that Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's name will remain embedded in everyone's heart and mind forever. Our great leader had faced many challenges over the years, sacrificing his life for Islam, for Pakistan and for the People of Pakistan. His dream was to unite the Third World but enemies were not happy to see Shaheed Bhutto take such bold independent steps - for his country and for his people.

Islamabad April 7, 2005: Pakistan Peoples Party has demanded that the forthcoming local polls be held on the basis of joint electorate and not separate electorate as announced by the regime.

In the separate electorate system the minorities are not allowed general participation in polls. Instead separate seats are reserved for them and separate nomination forms are issued for the purpose discriminating the minorities from the general population comprising of the Muslims.

The system of separate electorate was foisted on the nation by the military dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq despite stiff opposition from members of the minority communities. During the past quarter of a century the system played havoc with the social cohesion of the nation by throwing out the minorities of the mainstream national politics.

In a statement today Spokesman of the Party said that separate electorate was a negation of the foundational principles of the country, ran counter to the vision of the founding fathers and discriminated against the people on the basis of religious beliefs. It also alienated the minorities by driving them out of the mainstream national life and bred a sense of frustration and alienation among them, he said.

"It is hypocrisy at its worst to claim 'enlightened moderation' on the one hand and yield to the extremists' demand for forcing the minorities into the status of second rate citizens on the other".

The spokesman said that the Party's provincial leadership had been directed to take up the matter with the Election Commission and demand that local polls at the councillor level be held on the basis of joint electorate.

PPP workers court hearing today

Islamabad April 7, 2005: The case against PPP activists accused of attacking the Parliament House in April 1998 will be heard in the court of senior civil judge Islamabad on Friday April 8.

About fifty activists of the Party including Ms Naheed Khan MNA, Nayyer Bokhari MNA, Shahzadi Kausar Gillani MLA Azad Kashmir, Senator Farhatullah Babar, Qazi Sultan Mahmood, Syed Ibrar Rizvi, Babar Minhas, Syed Ibn-i-Rivi, Shahnawaz, Shabbir Babar, Jehangir Akhtar, Majeed Niazi and Sohail Rumi besides others have been charged with storming the Parliament building in 1998 and threatening the Speaker National Assembly.

The case was registered on April 22, 1998 when PPP activists staged a protest rally outside the Parliament House against the anti-terrorism legislation, which gave sweeping powers to the executive. The demonstrators were forcibly dispersed when the police resorted to baton charge resulting in injury to many Party workers and activists.

The protestors were demanding review of the law. Later the Supreme Court struck down various provisions of the proposed legislation including the one relating to the setting up of military courts to try terror cases.

A large number of protestors were arrested on the spot and sent to jail.

All were initially booked under the anti-terror law against which they were protesting. Later however the government withdrew the terrorism charges and booked the protestors under eight different sections of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Defence Counsel Raja Shakeel Abbasi will appear on behalf of the accused named in the FIR.

Meanwhile the PPP has asked all those named in the FIR to appear before the court on Friday.

Case against PPP workers adjourned

Islamabad April 8, 2005: The case against PPP activists accused of attacking the Parliament House in April 1998 was adjourned today to July 8 by the senior civil judge Islamabad.

Raja Shakeel Abbasi and Raja Aleem Abbasi appeared on behalf of the accused PPP workers named in the FIR.

The case was registered seven years ago when PPP activists staged a protest rally outside the Parliament House against the anti-terrorism legislation.

Party activists including Ms Naheed Khan MNA, Nayyer Bokhari MNA, Shahzadi Kausar Gillani MLA Azad Kashmir, Senator Farhatullah Babar, Qazi Sultan Mahmood, Syed Ibrar Rizvi, Babar Minhas, Syed Ibn-i-Rivi, Shahnawaz, Shabbir Babar, Jehangir Akhtar, Majeed Niazi and Sohail Rumi besides others have been charged with storming the Parliament building in 1998 and threatening the Speaker National Assembly.

Thirty four hearings have been held in the case so far while the accused have not yet been indicted.

Islamabad, 07 April 2005: Naheed Khan, the political Secretary to the Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and member national assembly said "NAB statement that it will not withdraw cases against Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari does not surprise any one in the country because the people are aware of the regime’s vendetta against progressive and democratic leadership".

In a statement issued from the Media Office Islamabad Naheed Khan said that on one hand General Musharraf calls him a liberal and enlightened and talks about reconciliation and on the other using NAB as his political tool, he is targeting the most popular, enlightened and liberal leadership and party. She said that NAB has lost its credibility long time ago and is being used as a political arm of the military regime to prolong its unconstitutional and illegal rule and hound the political opposition. "It is not appropriate for General Musharraf to talk about accountability because he and NAB had to strike a deal with the absconders and turncoats who were wanted by NAB to form governments in the Centre, Sindh and Balochistan. The current government is composed of wanted persons by the law", Naheed Khan said.

She warned the regime not to forget that one day they would be held accountable before not only by the law but by the people as well. NAB would be held accountable for all its illegal and unconstitutional actions and the waste of billions of rupees of taxpayers’ money on foreign junkets. Naheed Khan said that NAB is licking its wound of defeat in Ursus tractor case in Switzerland and is issuing such baseless statements.

Mohtarma Bhutto condemns gang rape in Rattodero
Demands culprits be arrested and brought to justice

Islamabad April 7, 2005: Former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has condemned the incidence of gang rape in the jurisdiction of Rattodero police station in Sindh and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits and punishment to them in accordance with the law.

A twelve year old girl hailing from a very poor family was gang raped in Rattodero last week by three persons as the assailants made good their escape. Reportedly the culprits now want the matter to be settled through tribal jirga so that they can get away with only paying compensation to the aggrieved family. The victim however want justice be done.

The victim's family has confirmed that they are being pressured by the criminals to hush up the matter in return for some monetary compensation.

In a statement today the former Prime Minister held the rulers responsible for the humiliation of women through gang rape and other acts of violence against them. She said that gang rapes were on the rise ever since the gang rape of Dr Shazia in Sui was hushed up mysteriously.

"While these incidents continue to bring bad name to the country in the world the rulers are mindlessly pursuing political opponents for vendetta".

PPP leaders Naheed Khan MNA, Mrs. Ruqia Soomro MNA, Mrs. Rubina Qaimkhani MNA, Tauqeer Fatima Bhutto Div. President, Naseeba Channa Dist. President and Mrs. Perveen Qaimkhani visited the victim in the police station the other day to console her on behalf of the Prty Chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto .

The former Prime Minster also deputed Mrs. Ruqia Soomro MNA, Mrs. Perveen Qaimkhani, Tauqeer Fatima Bhutto Div. President and Naseeba Channa Dist. President will accompany the victim to court to provide her moral and legal support.

The Party Chairperson also directed various committees of the Party to raise the issue before international human rights bodies and foreign diplomats in Islamabad.

Islamabad March 31, 2005: Senator Enver Baig of the Pakistan Peoples Party has condemned the government decision to entrust the manpower export to Malaysia only to the Overseas Employment Corporation and ban the recruiting agencies from it.

The state minister for overseas Pakistani Senator TAriq Azeem said on Wednesday that the export of manpower to Malaysia would only be made through the OEC.

In a statement today Senator Enver Baig said that on the one hand the rulers were privatizing national assets and on the other the manpower export was being nationalized..

Senator Enver Baig recalled that a little over a year ago when the government signed a memorandum of understanding with Malaysia for the export of manpower it failed to satisfy the Malaysian authorities’ objections to the quality of manpower selected and exported by the OEC. Press reports said that a team of Pakistani officials who recently wanted to go to Malaysia for discussing the issue was not even welcomed, he said.

The PPP Senator said that a large number of skilled and unskilled manpower recruited by the OEC had been turned back from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and other countries for not meeting the criterion laid down for the jobs. He said that the decision to give the manpower export to the public sector and ban the private recruiting agencies seem to be motivated by a desire of some to ‘make hay while the sun shone’.

Senator Enver Baig called upon the government to immediately rescind the decision and allow the private recruiting agencies do the job through an open, transparent and competitive me

Islamabad, 1 April 2005: Senator Mian Raza Rabbani, leader of the Opposition, Senate of Pakistan has issued the following press statement:

The brutal beating by the police and subsequent arrest of Senator Raza Muhammad Raza at Peshawar is strongly condemned. The Senator was exercising his right under the Constitution of peaceful political descent when he was subjected to State terrorism. The police beat up the Senator with batons on the head and around his shoulders during the strike call of the PONAM. He was then shifted from one lock up to another. This attitude of the Government towards members of Parliament has once again exposed the sham democracy that prevails in the country.

The Government is trying to stifle the voice of the Opposition in the Parliament and now wants to take away its right of peaceful protest, this oppression by the Government will not deter the Opposition from the path of struggle against the anti peoples policies of the Government. Today due the big business friendly economic policy of this Government the middle and working class of Pakistan are being crushed while a few business houses reap profits. The Opposition will continue to expose the manner in which the Government is allowing the oil companies to make a killing profit at the cost of the common man facing a new budget every fifteen days.

The Police officials involved in the incident of Senator Raza should be suspended immediately. The Opposition will also move a privilege motion in the Senate and protest the same.

PPP denies meeting of Mohtarma Bhutto with Musharraf

Islamabad April 1, 2005: Spokesman of the Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Farhatullah Babar has issued the following statement today.

"A section of the media has claimed that Mohtarma Bhutto said in India today that she had a ‘fruitful’ meeting recently with General Musharraf in Jeddah and that Senator Asif Zardari on return to Pakistan would also meet General Pervez Musharraf.

"Both the assertions attributed to her are not correct and appear to be based on an incorrect understanding of what she said.

"The reference to ‘fruitful’ meeting is about her meeting with former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif and not General Musharraf. She has not met Musharraf ever since the General dismissed an elected government and re-wrote the Constitution and even since well before that.

"Mohtarma also did not say that Asif Zardari will meet General Musharraf. All that she said was Asif Zardari would return to Pakistan to boost the democratic struggle in the country.

"Meanwhile on arrival in Jaipur (India) today on a two day private visit the former Prime Minister accompanied by Senator Asif Ali Zardari went straight to the shrine of Hazratr Nizamuddin Aulia in Ajmer Sharif for prayers.

"Later they returned to Jaipur where the Chief Minister Rajhastan has hosted dinner in their honour.

"At the shrine in jaipur she also prayed for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan.

"She also addressed a press conference today.

"She said that during her last visit to the shrine which took place at the time when the troops of the two countries were standing in eye ball to eye ball confrontation she had prayed for de-escalation of tension and also for the release of Senator Asif Ali Zardai. She said that both her prayers were answered and hoped that her prayer now for restoration of Constitution, democracy and early elections would also be answered.

"She welcomed the peace process in the region manifested in the bus and cricket diplomacy and called for early opening of the Khokrapar rail link and extension of links between the East and West Punjab.

"She said that Asif Zardari would return to Pakistan on April 16 to boost the struggle for restoration of democracy, holding of elections this year and pave way for her return. . "Mohtarma Bhutto and Asif Zardari would return to Dubai on Sunday".

PPP deplores political victimization
Mohtarma Bhutto demands reinstatement of official suspended for wife’s politics

Speaking to the press during her brief sojourn here, the Pakistan Peoples’ Party leader said she had had a ‘‘fruitful’’ meeting with President Pervez Musharraf recently in Jeddah and discussed matter. ‘‘I am hopeful that the process would be expedited,’’ she said.

Bhutto said the India-Pakistan talks likely to take place during Musharraf’s upcoming visit would be more meaningful if Islamabad was represented by elected leaders.

She said the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service would promote India-Pakistan relations and added that road links in Punjab, Sindh and Rajasthan should also be restored. Benazir, who later offered prayers at the Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti’s Dargah in Ajmer, said her husband Asif Ali Zardari would meet Musharraf in Islamabad on April 16 to discuss the restoration of democracy.

‘‘I hope I shall be able to return to my country after the return of democracy,’’ she said. ‘‘We are trying our best to find ways to speed up the democratic process in Pakistan.’’

Naheed Khan criticises Amir’s decision to buy Mercedes

DUBAI April 1: Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party, has alleged that MMA, the alliance of religious parties, has been given a free hand as it is seen as "the safe opposition" while moderate parties are not allowed to function freely. She said this is like playing with fire as "uneven playing field is helping MMA to gain strength."

Talking to a local newspaper before leaving Dubai for New Delhi on Thursday night, she categorically denied any deal with President Musharraf and warned the government that a lot can happen between now and 2007 if elections are not held this year. She said the system is falling apart and the unity and the integrity of the country is in danger.

On a question about US Secretary of States Condoleezza Rice's offer of F-16 jets to Pakistan she said the US has rewarded Pakistan for agreeing to certain demands. "This is a quid pro quo for Islamabad agreeing to send centrifuges to the IAEA for testing in the light of developments in Iran," The Gulf News quoted her as saying.

She denied all rumours about agreeing with the government to stay out of the country and that her husband Asif Ali Zardari will lead the Party. She said Asif Zardari is scheduled to return to Lahore on April 16 and government "will be seen as the clandestine supporter of the MMA" if it tried to ban the welcome rallies of the Peoples Party.

"The MMA can hold million-marches, hire buses and transport people, lead rallies and hold public meetings. They are received by Pakistan's diplomatic corps when they travel overseas," she said.

"They (MMA) are being viewed as a safe opposition, where people can vent their frustrations without the wrath of the state is falling on them. This is playing with fire," she was quoted as saying.

AFP ADDS FROM JAIPUR: The former prime minister who was on her way to offer prayers at shrine of a revered Sufi saint, ruled out any agitation against Musharraf's rule. "In the present international scenario we are not thinking in these terms," she said. On talks with India, Ms Bhutto said the dialogue would be more meaningful if Islamabad was represented by "elected" leaders.