Row again over rally for democracy in Pak.

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, JUNE 4. Confrontation is building up between the group of parties opposed to the military rule and the Musharraf government in Pakistan over a proposed meeting at Quetta, capital of Balochistan, on Wednesday.

The meeting by the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) is the third attempt since March to hold a demonstration in support of its demand for immediate conduct of general elections and return to democracy.

Reports from Quetta said that the Balochistan Government had banned the entry of important leaders of the ARD to Quetta. The meeting was to begin with a workers convention on June 6 and the next day the Alliance leaders were to discuss the political situation and chalk out their future course of action.

The military government successfully prevented the ARD, a conglomerate of 18 odd parties including the Pakistan Muslim League led by Mr. Nawaz Sharif and the Pakistan People's Party led by Mrs. Benazir Bhutto, from holding a rally in March at Lahore and subsequently at Karachi.

The venues of both the rallies were sealed and leaders and cadres of the Alliance were taken into custody by the provincial authorities to thwart the meetings.

The ARD leaders were prevented from holding the rallies on the ground that their demonstrations would amount to violation of the ban on holding public demonstrations. The ban was first enforced in March 2000 on the eve of the visit of the than U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton, and has been in vogue ever since.

The civil rights organisations both in Pakistan and outside have criticised the military government for clamping down on demonstrations. What has come in particular criticism is the manner in which religious and militant organisations have got away with big shows in different parts of the country.

There is consensus in the Pakistani press that the military government has only ended up ensuring undue publicity to the ARD by taking drastic steps to prevent the rallies at Lahore and Karachi.

The general perception is that left to themselves, the Alliance despite the presence of the two major parties in its fold would have hardly succeeded in mobilising a few thousand people and was hardly in a position to jolt the military government.

The Alliance launched with grand fan-fare in November lost much of its sheen after the former Prime Minister, Mr. Nawaz Sharif, had left Pakistan on exile to Saudi Arabia after concluding a deal with the Musharraf Government.

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Section  : International
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