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At present the component parties of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy and Muttahida
Majlis-i-Amal were working for the supremacy of law and judiciary, he added.
PML-N leaders Ahsan Iqbal, Salim Zia, Sardar Rahim; ARD leaders Rashid Rabbani, Basharat Mirza
and others were also present on the occasion.
***
The News 10 May (b)
Karachi tense ahead of May 12 rallies
By Tahir Hasan Khan
KARACHI: Tension is fast rising in Karachi following the announcement by the ruling MQM and the
opposition ARD and MMA that they would take out “historic” rallies on the arrival of the Chief Justice of
Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in the city on May 12, 2007. Meanwhile, lawyers are seeking a
bulletproof car for the Chief Justice.
Political analysts say that the two rallies could result in a clash despite a strong declaration by the
MQM that its rally would be peaceful. The MQM leadership says that the purpose of its rally is to show the
party’s strength against the opposition.
When contacted, the MQM leaders said that the party would announce its route and plan of the rally
on Thursday. Sources said that a meeting of the party leaders and workers was going on at Nine Zero till late
Wednesday night, the strategy for the rally under discussion.
The provincial administration is working to maintain the law and order situation. Sindh Governor Dr
Ishratul Ebad held a high-level meeting on Wednesday to review the law and order situation in view of the
arrival of the Chief Justice of Pakistan in Karachi on 12 May and rallies of political parties with divergent points
of view.
Sindh Home Secretary Brig (Retd) Ghulam Muhammad Mohtarem has written a letter to the Supreme
Court, requesting the Chief Justice of Pakistan to postpone his Karachi visit as the situation is not suitable for
the visit, which is not in the larger public interest. The Home Secretary has conveyed to the SC Registrar: “It is
foreseen that the planned caravan of the Honourable Chief Justice of Supreme Court from Karachi airport to
different venues in the town could be stopped by political elements and in ensuing melee, the person and thus
the office of the honourable CJP might be slighted.”
The letter by the Home Secretary, who is in Islamabad, follows MQM’s plans to bring out a rally to
counter the rallies to be brought out by the ARD, MMA and lawyers. The Adviser to the CM, Waseem Akhtar,
who belongs to the MQM, is the in-charge of the Home department.
HRCP
The Chief Secretary, Sindh, Shakil Durrani, has also issued an order to all DCOs of the province and
departmental secretaries not to leave their stations. The police have also issued warning of a terrorist threat.
The opposition has advised the MQM to change its plan and hold the rally either before or after the
departure of the chief justice. The ARD Secretary General, Zafar Iqbal Jhagra, has expressed concerns over the
decision of the MQM to hold its rally on Saturday and requested the party to change its date to avoid any
disturbance.
He alleged that General Pervez Musharraf is looking at excuses to impose emergency in the country
and the MQM might provide him the opportunity. The MMA has announced that Liaquat Baloch would lead its
rally, and would distribute one million handbills among the people so as to motivate them to participate in the
rally.
The MMA has also announced that schoolchildren would present bouquets to the Chief Justice at the
Quaid’s Mazar as a show of solidarity. Meanwhile, the city lawyers are trying to arrange a bulletproof car for the
chief justice. Sources said that a businessman has promised to provide the car after the Sindh government
refused to lend any of the bulletproof cars being used by the Sindh Governor and the Chief Minister. The Bar
has also planned to deploy 300 lawyers for the security of the CJP on his arrival.
The situation has worried the people, including traders and the business community, parents and
teachers especially as the annual exams have started in the city’s educational institutions. M Waqar Bhatti
adds: Sindh Home Secretary Brig (retd) Ghulam Muhammad Mohtaram has sought the postponement of Chief
Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry’s planned visit to Karachi on May 12 to a new convenient
date, claiming there were reports of possibility of “armed clashes and bloodshed” in Karachi on his arrival.
The CJ is expected to be accorded a warm welcome by the legal fraternity, opposition political parties
and common people on his arrival in Karachi and is likely to be taken to Malir Judicial Complex and then the
mausoleum of Quaid-i-Azam in the form of a mammoth rally.
He was accorded a historic welcome by hundreds of thousands of people from Islamabad to Lahore
during his over 24-hour road journey on the Grand Trunk (GT) Road on May 5 that caused ringing of alarm
bells in the rank and file of the government.
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