KARACHI, 29 April — Opposition parties vowed to proceed with a protest rally planned for May 1 after announcing that the military government had arrested 50 activists yesterday. The latest detentions involved people attending a meeting to help organize the rally.
They followed the rounding-up of hundreds — and possibly thousands — of members of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) in the previous two days.
ARD organizers said roadblocks had been set up on highways leading to Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, to intercept people heading to the protest.
“They have arrested over 50 leaders and supporters of ARD today from a meeting on the May 1 rally,” Ejaz Shafi, a member of the Pakistan Muslim League of ousted Premier Nawaz Sharif, told Reuters by telephone. The 16-party ARD, which says it is committed to non-violence, has called the rally as part of a campaign urging the military to step down and immediately restore democratic rule.
Shafi, who is in hiding to avoid arrest, said many senior politicians, including former government ministers, have been detained during the last three days.
“We have received information about other cities in Sindh province, that they have erected checkpoints on highways leading to Karachi to arrest our workers who are coming to take part in the rally,” he said.
A total of 45 checkpoints had been set up where cars and vehicles coming to Karachi were being checked.
Meanwhile, military authorities threw a security blanket over Karachi yesterday to thwart the planned rally, officials and witnesses said.
Police and paramilitary troops intensified patrols ahead of Tuesday’s rally called by the 18-party Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD).
“We have taken foolproof security measures to maintain law and order,” Karachi police chief Tariq Jamil told AFP. He said some 7,000 police and paramilitary troops would be on duty to prevent any disturbance on May 1. For the first time a newly established special squad of 250 motorcycle policemen would patrol the roads to check the movements of political party workers, he added.
He said all roads leading to Nishtar Park, the meeting’s venue, would be sealed to prevent entry to ARD workers. “No procession would be allowed to enter Karachi. We have taken measures to implement the government’s ban on rallies and outdoor meetings,” Jamil said. Nisar Khuhro, provincial chief of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said: “We have worked out our strategy for May 1 and processions would come from all corners of the city despite arrest of thousands of our workers,” he said.
In a statement condemning the arrests, the ARD said some 5,000 people had been netted since the crackdown began on Wednesday. Police said they have so far arrested some 600 people.
The detainees include members of the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
US State Department spokesman Charles Hunter said: “We are disappointed at the government of Pakistan’s decision to take this step.”
The decision “calls into question the government’s commitment to protect civil liberties such as freedom of assembly, a key component of good democratic governments,” Hunter said in Washington on Friday.
“We continue to state our view that Pakistan should return rapidly to a democratic civilian government and in the interim, internationally recognized rights should be respected,” he added.
Musharraf has vowed to restore “genuine democracy” and hold elections by Oct. 12, 2002.
His spokesman, Maj. Gen. Rashid Qureshi, has defended the mass arrests, saying “the government will not allow any move to disrupt peace and tranquillity” in the country.
The crackdown is the second since the arrests of hundreds of party members last month foiled a planned ARD rally in the eastern city of Lahore. Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider told reporters in Islamabad that the government could not allow the ARD to take to the streets of Karachi, but it will not stop them if they hold indoor gathering on the May Day.
