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'ATO will be used for political victimisation'

By our correspondent

KARACHI: The opposition PPP has communicated to the Supreme Court its apprehension that the Nawaz government would use the Anti Terrorism Act Ordinance for political victimisation of its opponents and that the Sindh situation was leading towards dangerous direction.

In a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, the PPP Coordination Committee, headed by Senator Syed Qaim Ali Shah, drew the Supreme Court's attention towards the real objectives of the appointment of the PML's Finance Secretary Mamnoon Hussain as Governor and the party's provincial President Syed Ghous Ali Shah as Adviser.

The letter stated that the Honourable Supreme Court had directed suitable amendments to the Proclamation of Emergency to protect human rights. "Unfortunately, the Nawaz regime has been continuously violating human rights and has made custodial killings a method of governance," it added.

The PPP said that it was a violation of the fundamental rights of Pakistan's second largest province that it had been put under the control of a minuscule minority. "The PML (N), which has been rejected by the people of Sindh, has come in with a declared political agenda of converting their minority into a manipulated majority," it added. The PPP alleged that that the regime was maintaining Sindh as a virtual colony of the Centre and had unleashed a reign of terror.

The letter said that Senator Zardari was brutally tortured, former Ambassador Hussain Haqqani was kidnapped and subjected to violence, former provincial minister Wassan, Senator Chandio and thousands of others were arrested, including 10-year-old children. Besides, 15 political workers of the PPP were picked up while they were protesting peacefully near Governor's House, and they were now being tried under Anti-Terrorist Ordinance. The party said: "this clearly proves that a regime born in the darkness of a violent military dictator considers the constitutional rights of the people as terrorism".

The letter said that on the other hand the regime had loudly boasted about its success in restoring law and order in Sindh. Even if the main stated objective of Emergency had been achieved, the regime was at a loss to explain why the right of the Sindh Assembly to elect its own executive had been usurped, it added.

The PPP said that the government had recently taken the extreme unconstitutional step of presenting Sindh budget outside the assembly. The PPP claimed that the Nawaz league had a twofold plan to impose its puppet regime and usurp the powers of the people of Pakistan's second largest province. First, to coerce and bribe MPAs to switch loyalty. Failing that, to dissolve the assembly and rig the elections to achieve the same result, the letter added.