=> The judiciary should be restored to the pre-Novemb
The judiciary should be restored to the pre-November 3 conditions, President Pervez Musharraf should step down, the emergency should be lifted, curbs on the media should be withdrawn, deposed judges should be reinstated, the caretaker government should be suspended, and free and fair elections should be held under an impartial election commission. These were the demands of around 700 people from approximately 35 political parties and organisations, who participated in a massive rally organised Friday by Peoples Resistance (PR).
PR is a loose coalition of activists, NGO workers and concerned citizens in Karachi. Friday’s rally was the result of a week of hard work on the part of PR members, who spent a lot of time and energy liaising with political parties, lawyers groups and trade and labour unions, and students.
Participants of the rally gathered at Regal Chowk at 04:00 p.m. Friday. The plan was to walk to the Karachi Press Club (KPC) via Zaibunnisa Street. Members of the Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI), the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Awami Tehreek (AT), Pukhtoonkhawa Milli Awami Party (PMAP), Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party (CMKP), the Labour Party of Pakistan (LPP), Islamic Lawyer Forum, Railway Workers Federation, Baloch Students Organization (BSO) Azad, Pakistan Workers Party (PWP), the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), Aurat Foundation, Women’s Action Forum (WAF) and Shabab-e-Milli Party formed a majority of the rally, which was also attended by lawyers, students, doctors, engineers, journalists, industrial workers, and housewives. The diversity of the participants cut across the divisions of rightist to leftist, ethnicity, class, education and gender.
A whole plethora of anti-State, pro-democracy, pro-judiciary and pro-mazdoor and pro-socialist revolution slogans were shouted. The military’s role in politics, and its alleged economic empire were especially targeted.
Speakers said that the upcoming elections would be tantamount to committing fraud with the nation, and President Pervez Musharraf was ‘staging this only to prolong his rule.’
PTI Karachi president, Subhan Ali, said that President Musharraf had made Pakistan as US colony. He alleged that the Musharraf was working for President Bush. Awami Tehreek president, Abdul Hakeem, appreciated the principled stand taken by the [now-deposed] judges who did not take oath under the PCO, and demanded that the government restore these judges immediately. ‘These 65 judges are the leaders of the 160 million people of Pakistan,’ Hakeem said.
Rafique Ahmed of JI and the National Labour Federation president claimed that President Musharraf was a security risk for the country. Speakers also said that the continuing military operations in Balochistan, North and South Waziristan, Swat and Bajore Agency were serious threats to the country’s integrity and sovereignty.
Results from a recent IRI survey were quoted, and speakers said that according to the survey, 70 percent of Pakistanis had rejected Musharraf rule. They further claimed that 160 million Pakistanis would boycott the upcoming elections.
BSO Azad central executive committee member, Karima Baloch, condemned the killing of Balach Marri. She said that 8,000 Baloch citizens were missing after Nawab Akbar Khan Bughti’s death.
Source: The News
Date:12/15/2007
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