KARACHI, Jan 12: Former strong-man of Punjab Malik Ghulam Mustafa Khar was on Wednesday provided PPP platform from where he called for national unity and reconciliation , and drifted from the party's stand when he addressed Gen Musharraf as 'President' Musharraf.

"The only choice for Pervez Musharraf is to have national unity and national reconciliation to take the country out of the present chaotic situation," said Mr Khar who was the keynote speaker at a memorial lecture organized by a committee named thhe Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto 25th anniversary of martyrdom commemorative committee.

His presence on the podium was regarded by political circles as a strong indicator of winds of change in national politics. "National unity cannot be achieved without genuine leaders like Ms Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, and the only way out for Pervez Musharraf is to let them come back and play their role," said Mr Khar.

His comeback in the fold of PPP, of which he was one of the fore-runners, surprised many in the audience because only recently, he was not invited at the party's founding day convention held in Lahore, and a year earlier, his bid to address the convention was foiled by party workers.

It seems that it had the blessing of PPP chairperson Ms Benazir Bhutto because Mr Aftab Shahban Mirani, who is chairman of the commemorative committee, never undertakes any venture without her consent.

Mr Khar, who had played a role in transfer of power from Yahya Khan to Mr Z. A. Bhutto after fall of Dhaka, may perhaps play the same role again, if an when asked, for national reconciliation and accommodation.

Expressing concern over Musharraf's policies, Mr Khar said that the initiatives taken by the general had complicated problems and if they were not addressed urgently and adequately, the very integrity of the country could be in danger.

He said that the greatest asset of ZAB's strength was people's support, and stressed that something was needed to be done now to compel Gen Musharraf to accept the reality that people were opposed to his policies.

Musharraf, he said, had put in great efforts to improve law and order but in vain. It was because the regime had no public support. The regime was failing because the genuine leadership was out of the country.

Claiming that the government had lost its credibility, he said that Gen Musharraf should declare general amnesty and call for support and help from every Pakistani.

At the moment, he said, people had lost faith in the judicial system and bureaucracy and their role in governance had been undermined. The country's fate is in the hands of the military, and if things further deteriorated with people resorting to resist its authority amid rising cost of living, unemployment, etc, it would be very difficult to hold things together.

Mr Khar recalled that when the first PPP government had shown clips of the fall of Dhaka on PTV, people of Punjab had stood up had declared that they would not accept humiliation of the armed forces. But today, that was not the situation, he claimed, because the role of the armed forces had also changed.

He warned the rulers against pushing the people and the country towards a dead end, and asked Gen Musharraf to concede that people were not with him. Claiming that PPP is the greatest political force in the country, Mustafa Khar dwelt on his very close friendship with the late Bhutto who, according to him, had great faith in him.

He vowed to serve the party as an ordinary member if given an opportunity but said that he would not accept any office in the party. He said that once the PPP was voted to power, it would associate other political parties in the formation of the government.

During the course of his speech, Mr Khar repudiated the charge against Mr Bhutto in the murder case in which he was convicted and hanged. He also absolved ZAB of being responsible for the break up of Pakistan.

He said that after Sheikh Mujeebur Rahman had presented his six-points, ZAB had agreed to give in on five- and-a-half and had thrice tried to come to a settlement on checks and balances with Mujeebur Rahman.

In this context, he asked the audience "why people forget the role of the leadership of Mr Rahman's party besides the role of super powers and a neighbour.''

In her message to the audience of the lecture, Ms Benazir Bhutto maintained that it was a measure of ZAB's greatness that today politics of the country revolved around his name. "There are two political forces in the country - those who follow Bhutto, and those who oppose him,'' she remarked.

She promised to carry his mantle to final victory, and recalled ZAB's achievements, whether it was the unanimously approved constitution or the nuclear programme, the stamp of Bhutto, was writ large over it.

She also recalled the holding of Islamic summit in Lahore, construction of Karakoram Highway, establishment of Port Qasim, Kamrah, Aeronautical Complex and the Heavy Mechanical Complex as ZAB's achievements together with emancipation of the downtrodden.

When the ambitious and thoughtless dictators brought defeat to the nation in 1971, it was Bhutto who pieced together the country with his sweat, toil and blood.

Seldom before one lone individual had done so much for so many people in such a short time as did Shaheed Bhutto in saving what was left of Pakistan. He was able to do this because the people of the country from Khunjrab Pass to the shores of the Arabian Sea in Karachi supported him, said Ms Bhutto.