Various civil society organisations on Wednesday condemned the besiege of Islamabad by Tahirul Qadri and his unconstitutional demands for dissolving the Election Commission of Pakistan and to get input of judiciary and army in forming the caretaker government.Sindh Women’s Action Forum leaders Anis Haroon, Attia Daud, Farhat Parveen, Fareeda Hanan, HRCP’s

Asad Butt and others while addressing a joint press conference at Karachi Press Club said that they believed that ongoing campaign against the democratically elected government as an ambush on people’s civil rights.

Democracy is a trust of the people of Pakistan and the WAF pledges allegiance to legitimate, democratic political processes and to the Parliament, which is its repository, they added. “As civil society, we reject all campaigns against the electoral system and condemn all attempts at its subversion by extra-constitutional forces. Advocating dismissal of the elected government is an insult to the citizens and their democratic power of the vote. We reject Tahirul Qadri’s demands and all attempts at forming non-elected technocratic civil-military setups,” they declared.

The civil society organisations said that they were aware of different forms of extra-constitutional interventions, whether through judicial coups, military takeovers and establishment machinations. The WAF expects political parties to present a united front to respect and protect the people’s mandate.Through the consensual 20th Amendment, an independent election commission has been instituted, as have parameters for a neutral interim government to oversee polls. A religious group that is not even registered as a political party cannot legitimately challenge provisions that are a result of the democratic process, they added.

The civil society organisations have called upon the people, organisations and political parties who believe in democracy come forward and raise their voice against the unconstitutional demands of Tahirul Qadri and stand united to shield the democracy.Meanwhile, Senior Education and Literacy Minister Pir Mazharul Haq has taken serious notice of posting of a Junior Officer of grade 18 Qasim Baloch as Director Schools Karachi. Grade 18 officer Qasim Baloch has been assigned as Director Schools Karachi that is against the principles of good governance. Mazhar has also directed Education Secretary Fazlullah Pechohu to prepare a summary for Sindh chief minister to appoint senior officer of grade 20 for the post of Director Schools Karachi.

Meanwhile, Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain has expressed deep grief over the death of a renowned literary personality Saifur Rehman Girami. In a statement issued by the MQM here on Wednesday, Altaf paid glowing tribute to the deceased for his services in the field of social work and literature.PPP always respected judiciary: The Pakistan Peoples Party always respected the judiciary “but the judiciary did not respect the mandate of the people.”

This was stated by the Sindh Minister for Education and Literacy, Pir Mazharul Haq. In a statement here on Tuesday, he maintained that “with the order of the arrest of an elected Prime Minister, an air of confrontation is being created at a time when a democratic and ‘Awami’ government is completing its constitutional term”. Mazhar was of the view that such a verdict negates the mandate of the masses.He also commented that this also reminded of the verdict of Justice Muniruddin which was delivered in the Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan case.