14 MMA leaders detained briefly in Lahore

Pakistani police yesterday briefly detained 14 leaders of six Islamic political parties, aborting their planned "train march" campaign for the October elections.

The stalwarts of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) alliance were whisked away as they arrived at the railway station in Lahore.

Police, who also detained around 20 MMA supporters, said the leaders were taken into custody for violating a ban on political rallies at train stations.

The detained MMA central and provincial leaders as well as the workers were released without charges after a few hours, police said.

The politicians wanted to travel from Lahore to Sukkur to address gatherings at stations en route during the 800-kilometre journey billed by MMA as a "train march."

They were, however, permitted on Wednesday to travel from Rawalpindi to Lahore, the first phase of train march, where they held a rally in spite of the ban.

Addressing a press conference after their release, the MMA leaders vowed to continue their political activities in form of public meetings in all major cities.

Terming the police action unconstitutional, illegal and anti-democratic, they alleged the government wanted to provoke them into agitation or boycott of the elections.

"The government is looking for an excuse to postpone elections but we will not fall into this trap and instead mobilise the people to reject the pro-government forces in the elections," they said.

Party chiefs bitterly condemned the arrests as another blow to democracy before the parliamentary elections, which will be the first since General Pervez Musharraf seized power in October 1999.

The military government relaxed a ban on political activities from September 1 allowing public meetings at authorised venues.

But it maintained restrictions on holding rallies on roads, railway stations and other public places to prevent disruption of normal life.

The party chiefs briefly held by police included Qazi Hussain Ahmed (Jamaat-e-Islami), Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani (Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan), Maulana Fazlur Rehman (Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam), Allama Sajid Naqvi (Islamic Movement) and Maulana Samiul Haq, head of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam.

The chief of the sixth alliance party, Ahle Hadith, did not turn up at the Lahore station.

At Multan and Khanewal and elsewhere in Punjab province, police blocked roads to the stations to stop MMA supporters from hearing speeches by party leaders. "This is a fascist act by a dictator," said Fazlur Rehman.

"We will continue to struggle for the restoration of democracy," Qazi Hussain vowed.

Speaking on behalf of all leaders, Noorani alleged that the government had deliberately done that to provoke MMA workers to either boycott or start agitation so that government could find a chance to postpone elections.

But, he said, they were prepared to continue campaign and had asked their workers to remain peaceful. They said they even did not resist the police at the railway station.

Liaqat Baloch said MMA has chalked out a plan to hold public meetings in the country, with the first meeting in Karachi today.

Fazlur Rehman said the elections would be decisive as people will have to choose between the enemies of Islam, country and its sovereignty and those who are fighting to uphold these sacred ideals.

Police official Aftab Cheema told reporters that he had orders to stop MMA leaders and workers from holding any political activity on the station because it was not included in the 36 places allowed by the government to be used for political activities.

Reports reaching from the big cities where the MMA leaders were scheduled to address gatherings said that similar barricades had also been erected outside railway stations and many people missed their trains as they were not allowed to enter the stations.

Scores of workers who managed to reach the railway station building started raising slogans and were immediately arrested by the police. Police contingents besieged the railway station much before sunrise, and they also stopped passengers holding tickets and as a result large number of passengers missed their trains.

Most of the people affected were genuine passengers including women, children and elderly persons. Many women and children were found weeping after missing their trains.

At least 35 MMA activists were arrested in Multan. In Khanewal provincial MMA leader Azhar Iqbal Ahsan addressed a small gathering outside the station and lamented government's "undemocratic acts."

Around a dozen activists including an MMA candidate for the Provincial Assembly were detained in Bahawalpur for a few hours.

The religious parties are jointly contesting the elections from one platform for the first time. They have never done well in past elections individually. Observers say the main challenge to pro-government parties will come from the 15-party Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD).

This includes the Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarian of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) of former premier Nawaz Sharif.