HYDERABAD, April 23: Former Speaker of Sindh Assembly and a noted intellectual, Hussain. A. Haroon, has said that restoration of undiluted democracy in the country is the only way to extricate the country from the existing crisis and added that real democracy is dependent on an independent judiciary.

He was speaking at a reception hosted in his honour by PPP leader Aftab Khanzada at the local Gymkhana, here on Monday. The Taluka Nazim of of Hala, Makhdoom Habib, Jamat-i-Islami leader Shaikh Shoukat Ali, JUI leaders Maulana Taj Mohammad Nahiyoon, PML-N leader Afzal Gujjar, MPAs Abdul Rehman Rajput, Syed Ali Nawaz Shah and Zahid Bhurgari and leaders of other political parties were also present on the occasion.

He said people had pinned some hopes on the present government eight years back and had expected some changes but nothing had been done during these eight years for the masses.

He said nothing could remain hidden in the present age of technology and added that all talks about economic development in the country were a hoax.

He said the only people who had benefited during the present regime were ministers, advisers and stock exchange operators or those who had black money in their possession.

He said the prices of land and properties had sky-rocketed and a poor man even could not think of purchasing a house.

He said under a proper plan, only those people had earned from the stock market who were with the government whereas the small investors and others, who had invested in stock market, were rendered bankrupt.

He said first the farce of Gwadar was staged to earn money and now the islands of Sindh were being sold. He said the present government had brought province of Sindh at the brink of destruction. He said Sindh had been deprived of royalty of its natural resources.

He said when compared to other provinces on the basis of population, there were less schools and less hospitals in Sindh and the ratio of poverty in rural Sindh had increased.Mr Haroon said that no steps had been taken by the federation to ameliorate the lot of the people of Sindh. He said time has come for all the people living in Sindh, without any exception, to unite on one platform for their rights.

Hussain Haroon made it clear that it was not police but judiciary which could protect democracy. He said if the lawyers were protesting today against making judiciary a hostage, it was their inherent right.

He said there were talks of replacing the 1973 constitution with some new constitution aimed at introducing presidential system in the country. He said the present government was acting on the British policy of divide and rule by creating differences among the political parties and the people and by creating new provinces.

He urged the people to prepare themselves for sacrifices for the restoration of democracy to save Pakistan.

He also urged the people to support the struggle of lawyers because it was not the exclusive problem of the lawyers but the entire nation to protect Pakistan.

Earlier, Hussain Haroon also visited the civil court bar and met with the lawyers. He also visited the hunger strikers camp set-up by the lawyers and expressed his solidarity with them.