Pak. parties firm on protest rally

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, APRIL 27. Political parties in Pakistan are gearing up for a confrontation with the military government which is determined to stop them from holding the May Day rally at Karachi in support of the demand for return to democracy.

Even as hundreds of workers of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), a conglomerate of 16 parties, were detained by authorities in different parts of the country in a mid-night swoop, the leaders announced that they are determined to go ahead with the protest rally.

The proclamations of the leaders may in reality mean nothing as they could do precious little when the military government thwarted their plans to hold a similar rally on the Foundation Day of Pakistan on March 23 in Lahore.

The steps taken by Punjab to prevent the Alliance leaders and cadres from reaching anywhere near the venue attracted flak from all quarters. The dominant view was that the administration made the rally that could never be held a great success by its strong- arm methods. The same trend might be witnessed in Karachi as well.

Political observers are surprised over the decision of the authorities to round up political parties and ban entry of prominent leaders of the Alliance into Karachi five days ahead of the proposed rally.

The reaction of the Government suits the Alliance leaders. Without doing anything they are getting all the attention they are looking for as left to them it would have indeed been a Herculean task for them to mobilise people particularly in these summer days.

It is not just the Sind administration that is hyper active over the proposed rally. The administration in Punjab is equally worked up. On Thursday the Punjab authorities issued notices banning the entry of ARD leaders and workers into Sind.

In a related development the human rights organisation, Amnesty International, has called on the military government to release the detained cadres of the ARD. The Amnesty said the ban imposed by the Government on political rallies and demonstrations was against international human rights standards.

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Section  : International
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