HYDERABAD, June 13: Leaders of the People’s Party Parliamentarians have condemned the arrest of party MPA Zahid Bhurgari, saying his life is in grave danger as he has not been produced in any court for remand. Speaking at a news conference at the press club here on Monday, the deputy opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly, Makhdoom Jamiluzzaman, MPA Sassui Palijo and office-bearers of the party, Mir Fateh Talpur, Ammanullah Siyal and Fayaz Shah said that Mr Bhurgari was arrested from Hyderabad on Sunday night without any reason and he was being held incommunicado.

They said the budget session of the Sindh Assembly was in progress and it was absolutely illegal to arrest an MPA during the budget session.

They said ever since Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim assumed the post of the Sindh chief minister, a reign of terror had been unleashed against PPP leaders and activists and unemployment, lawlessness, robberies, murders and kidnappings hade become the order of the day in Sindh.

Makhdoom Jamiluzzaman said the excesses of the chief minister had increased with the announcement of local bodies’ elections to be held in July or August.

He said the arrest of MPA Bhurgari was not an isolated incident and before him MPA Ghulam Qadir Chandio and MPA Shamim Ara Panhwar were repeatedly harassed and intimidated.

He said the only motive behind the arrest of Zahid Bhurgari was that he had raised his voice along with other PPP leaders loud and clear in the assembly when illegal budget was presented in the house.

He said the chief minister had given a clear indication during the assembly proceedings that Zahid Bhurgari and others who had rejected the budget would be taught a lesson.

He said without the announcement of NFC award, Sindh budget was absolutely illegal and unconstitutional and for that reason Zahid Bhurgari and others were quite vocal in criticizing the budget which was their constitutional right.

He said when activists of the PPP had approached police to inquire under what law the MPA was arrested, the reply was “we have received orders from above”.

MPA Sassui Palijo said during the assembly session, Zahid Bhurgari had tied a black cloth on his eyes during the budget session and had repeatedly and vociferously opposed the division of Hyderabad and rejected the illegal budget.

“What is the use of assemblies when elected representatives of the people cannot speak out their mind in the assembly,” she asked. “Under which law has MPA Zahid Bhurgari been arrested”, she inquired.

She borrowed the utterance of Makhdoom Jamiluzzaman and reminded the chief minister that Zahid Bhurgari did not belong to Chhachhro but to Hyderabad.

Ms Palijo appealed to the superior judiciary and human rights organizations to take notice of the autocratic rule of the Sindh chief minister.

She also condemned the registration of false cases against Jam Saqi and the arrest of his wife.

Earlier, a large number of PPP activists staged protest demonstration outside the press club against the arrest of the MPA.

It may be mentioned that the MPA was taken to the A-section police station Latifabad and later shifted to the Site police station because a large number of PPP activists had besieged the police station.

Sources said the MPA was taken to Karachi on Monday morning.

The Hyderabad police in a press release denied the arrest of MPA Bhurgari and said there was no truth in the news.

The press release stated that Zahid Bhurgari was neither arrested by the Hyderabad police nor was he in the custody of police.

Meanwhile, District Bar Association president Chaudhry Bashir Ahmad also condemned the arrest of MPA Bhurgari, said a statement

Our Khairpur Correspondent adds: People’s Party Parliamentarians MNA Manzoor Hussain Wassan has termed the arrest of party MPA Zahid Bhurgari in Hyderabad political victimization.

Talking to PPP workers at the Wassan House here on Monday, he said the government had launched its election campaign through arrests of political opponents.