The law enforcement agencies on Sunday rounded up about 250 PPP workers here to derail protests against emergency rule, officials said. Pakistan People's Party had planned a series of rallies in Sindh to galvanise opposition to President Pervez Musharraf's state of emergency.
Police official Mohammad Jehanzeb told AFP that at least 250 party workers had been picked up in Karachi. Among them were its parliamentary leader Raza Rabbani and provincial chief Syed Qaim Ali Shah, PPP spokesman Jameel Soomro said. Police sealed venues where the rallies were to be held and arrested those who turned up before they could assemble.
"Our struggle will continue," Raza Rabbani shouted before being shoved into a police van. Those arrested also included more than 20 women who were chanting slogans such as "Down with emergency rule" and "Prime Minister Benazir."
Soomro said police arrested another 500 PPP workers from across the Sindh province, but police confirmed only 100 such arrests.
Soomro said four workers injured when police opened fire on protesters in the town of Jamshoro, but officials said shots were only fired into the air to disperse the crowd.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan People's Party has condemned the mass arrests and subsequent inhuman treatment of its leaders and workers, especially women, as the party intensifies efforts for the restoration of democracy in the country.
Several thousand members of the party have been detained across the country, including the NWFP President Rahimdad Khan and Azad Kashmir President Chaudhry Majeed. The Police raided the homes of PPP Punjab President, Shah Mahmoud Qureshi and Sindh President Qaim Ali Shah while thousands of workers hah been picked across the country.
"Access must be given to senior lawyers and PPP parliamentarian Aitzaz Ahsan, who is being kept in solitary confinement at Adiala Jail, demanded Sherry Rehman.
"His home in Lahore as well as in Islamabad has been raided in an effort to harass and intimidate his wife, Bushra Aitzaz, who herself is a human rights activist."
State sponsored violence against women leaders is also on the rise. Among 13 other parliamentarians, PPP MNA Fauzia Habib was hauled up in Rawalpindi on Friday.
Comments
Comments are closed.