KARACHI, Feb 10: All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai has said the Feb 18 elections instead of solving the problems facing the people will result in a mass social unrest.

He alleged that in case of a defeat in the upcoming polls, the pro-Musharraf forces had chalked out a plan to push the country towards a civil war.

Mr Achakzai was speaking at a public meeting organised by the APDM at the Bacha Khan Chowk in Banaras Colony on Sunday.

Terming the Feb 18 polls a futile exercise, he said the battle between good and evil would begin after the elections.

He predicted that the current turmoil would lead to a silent revolution in the country without any role for the armed forces and other secret services to play.

“The people now have been awakened and if attempts are made to block our path by force, the country will plunge into a civil war,” he said.

Mr Achakzai, who is also the chief of the Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party, urged the masses to rise up against the rulers. He said the political parties of the country were clearly divided into two camps. He said one side was pursuing the US agenda while the other, including politicians, lawyers, journalists and civil society, was striving against dictatorship. These people, he said, had joined hands to usher in a new democratic Pakistan where there would be supremacy of the constitution, provinces would have autonomy and the judiciary would be independent.

Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad ruled out the possibility of free and fair elections under Pervez Musharraf and the caretaker setup. He said the upcoming polls were being held in pursuit of the US agenda aimed at strengthening the Musharraf regime.

He said the recurring bomb blasts and other terrorist incidents were part of a conspiracy against the people of the country.

The JI chief said the APDM guaranteed the solidarity of the country.

The chairman of the Awami Tehreek, Rasool Bux Palejo, said Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry had added a golden chapter to the history of Pakistan by refusing to surrender to the dictator.

Dr Qadir Magsi, chief of Sindh Tarraqi Pasand Party, said the APDM was not given permission to hold its public meeting at Nishtar Park as Musharraf did not like truth to reach the masses.

Dr Abdul Hai Baloch, chief of the BNP, said that the country was in the grip of the worst constitutional, political and economic crises because of dictatorship.

Other APDM leaders, Yusuf Mastikhan, Zubair Khan, Abdul Hameed Kanju, Hameedudin Mashriqi and Habib Jalib, also spoke.

A number of resolutions were adopted at the meeting demanding restoration of the judiciary to the position of Nov 2, 2007, stepping down by Pervez Musharraf from presidency and setting up of an interim government of consensus and an independent election commission for holding free and fair elections.

The meeting also called for an investigation into the May 12 carnage and trial of those responsible for it, repeal of all the ‘black’ laws against workers and restoration of their trade unions. It also condemned the ban on the entry of PTI chief Imran Khan and called for lifting the ban forthwith.