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Dr. Jai Maharaj
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Pakistan police round up Musharraf opponents
AFP
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Islamabad (AFP) - A Pakistani opposition leader on Sunday
accused President Pervez Musharraf of trying to crush
dissent after police held dozens of people who vowed to
protest against the military ruler's re-election.
Police served four leaders of a pro-democracy alliance with
30-day detention orders on Saturday night and kept them
under heavy guard at their parliamentary lodgings in
Islamabad.
Security forces arrested dozens more activists in raids on
their homes, while party officials said other opposition
figures have gone underground to avoid being rounded up.
Javed Hashmi, the acting chief of exiled former premier
Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League party, said his
lawyer would challenge his "illegal" detention in court.
"They want to crush every voice of dissent," Hashmi told
AFP from the parliamentary apartment where he is being
held.
The other leaders held are Raja Zafar ul-Haq, from the same
party and Hafiz Hussain Ahmad and Mian Aslam of the pro-
Taliban Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam party. Party sources said they
would also appeal against their detention.
The opposition coalition, called the All Parties Democratic
Movement, has vowed to block Musharraf's bid to win another
five-year term in a vote by the federal and provincial
assemblies on October 6.
"They have confined me for 30 days, but we will continue to
raise our voice for the rights of the people of Pakistan,
for democracy and against military dictatorship," Hashmi
said.
"They want power by the use of force, not by the power of
the ballot," added Hashmi, who was freed from jail by the
Supreme Court in August after serving three years on
sedition charges.
Deputy information minister Tariq Azeem said the
"preventative detentions" were justified.
"These people were threatening to storm the Supreme Court
and attack the election commission. No government can allow
them to take the law into their hands," Azeem told AFP.
"Some leaders are under preventative detention to ward off
any threat to law and order to protect the sanctity of the
institutions," he said.
The alliance staged protests on Friday and says that it
will blockade the election commission to stop Musharraf
filing his nomination papers on Thursday. It has also vowed
to resign from parliament.
The Supreme Court is meanwhile hearing a set of petitions
filed by the opposition claiming that Musharraf is
ineligible to stand in the elections and that he should
quit as army chief.
Musharraf, a key US ally, says he will hang up his uniform
and be sworn in as a civilian before his current term as
president ends on November 15.
As police sources said that more arrests were likely,
Sharif's party and the biggest coalition of religious
parties, the Muttahida-Majlis-e-Amal, or United Action
Front, said most of their leaders had gone into hiding.
"The leadership has gone underground to keep the movement
alive. Hundreds of our workers have been detained," said
Shahid Shamsi, a spokesman for the Islamist alliance.
Sharif's party said its leaders have "left their homes for
safer places" while several dozen had been detained.
"This is sham democracy," spokesman Ahsan Iqbal said. "The
regime is proving our point that it is autocratic not
democratic."
Police would not confirm the full number of arrests.
Musharraf has faced mounting protests and slumping
popularity ever since his failed bid to sack the Supreme
Court chief justice in March.
The Supreme Court has shown increasing autonomy, ruling in
August first that Hashmi could be freed and then that party
leader Sharif himself was allowed to return from seven
years in exile.
But when he did so nearly two weeks ago Pakistani
authorities immediately dumped Sharif, the man Musharraf
ousted in a 1999 coup, on a plane to Saudi Arabia.
Another ex-prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, has vowed to
return to Pakistan on October 18 amid stalled talks on a
power-sharing pact with Musharraf. Her party also condemned
the detentions.
"We condemn the arrest of APDM leaders and demand their
immediate release," Raza Rabbani, parliamentary leader of
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party said.
More at:
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jwX1JfAhBgXWPwfrKW-YEWbmZsLA
Jai Maharaj
http://tinyurl.com/24fq83
http://www.mantra.com/jai
http://www.mantra.com/jyotish
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
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not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
AFP
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Islamabad (AFP) - A Pakistani opposition leader on Sunday
accused President Pervez Musharraf of trying to crush
dissent after police held dozens of people who vowed to
protest against the military ruler's re-election.
Police served four leaders of a pro-democracy alliance with
30-day detention orders on Saturday night and kept them
under heavy guard at their parliamentary lodgings in
Islamabad.
Security forces arrested dozens more activists in raids on
their homes, while party officials said other opposition
figures have gone underground to avoid being rounded up.
Javed Hashmi, the acting chief of exiled former premier
Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League party, said his
lawyer would challenge his "illegal" detention in court.
"They want to crush every voice of dissent," Hashmi told
AFP from the parliamentary apartment where he is being
held.
The other leaders held are Raja Zafar ul-Haq, from the same
party and Hafiz Hussain Ahmad and Mian Aslam of the pro-
Taliban Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam party. Party sources said they
would also appeal against their detention.
The opposition coalition, called the All Parties Democratic
Movement, has vowed to block Musharraf's bid to win another
five-year term in a vote by the federal and provincial
assemblies on October 6.
"They have confined me for 30 days, but we will continue to
raise our voice for the rights of the people of Pakistan,
for democracy and against military dictatorship," Hashmi
said.
"They want power by the use of force, not by the power of
the ballot," added Hashmi, who was freed from jail by the
Supreme Court in August after serving three years on
sedition charges.
Deputy information minister Tariq Azeem said the
"preventative detentions" were justified.
"These people were threatening to storm the Supreme Court
and attack the election commission. No government can allow
them to take the law into their hands," Azeem told AFP.
"Some leaders are under preventative detention to ward off
any threat to law and order to protect the sanctity of the
institutions," he said.
The alliance staged protests on Friday and says that it
will blockade the election commission to stop Musharraf
filing his nomination papers on Thursday. It has also vowed
to resign from parliament.
The Supreme Court is meanwhile hearing a set of petitions
filed by the opposition claiming that Musharraf is
ineligible to stand in the elections and that he should
quit as army chief.
Musharraf, a key US ally, says he will hang up his uniform
and be sworn in as a civilian before his current term as
president ends on November 15.
As police sources said that more arrests were likely,
Sharif's party and the biggest coalition of religious
parties, the Muttahida-Majlis-e-Amal, or United Action
Front, said most of their leaders had gone into hiding.
"The leadership has gone underground to keep the movement
alive. Hundreds of our workers have been detained," said
Shahid Shamsi, a spokesman for the Islamist alliance.
Sharif's party said its leaders have "left their homes for
safer places" while several dozen had been detained.
"This is sham democracy," spokesman Ahsan Iqbal said. "The
regime is proving our point that it is autocratic not
democratic."
Police would not confirm the full number of arrests.
Musharraf has faced mounting protests and slumping
popularity ever since his failed bid to sack the Supreme
Court chief justice in March.
The Supreme Court has shown increasing autonomy, ruling in
August first that Hashmi could be freed and then that party
leader Sharif himself was allowed to return from seven
years in exile.
But when he did so nearly two weeks ago Pakistani
authorities immediately dumped Sharif, the man Musharraf
ousted in a 1999 coup, on a plane to Saudi Arabia.
Another ex-prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, has vowed to
return to Pakistan on October 18 amid stalled talks on a
power-sharing pact with Musharraf. Her party also condemned
the detentions.
"We condemn the arrest of APDM leaders and demand their
immediate release," Raza Rabbani, parliamentary leader of
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party said.
More at:
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jwX1JfAhBgXWPwfrKW-YEWbmZsLA
Jai Maharaj
http://tinyurl.com/24fq83
http://www.mantra.com/jai
http://www.mantra.com/jyotish
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
