ISLAMABAD, May 14: Leaders of frontline opposition political parties have called for launching a decisive movement for restoration of democracy in the country. Speaking at the launching ceremony of detained PML-N leader Makhdoom Javed Hashmi’s book Takhta Dar Kay Saye Talay here on Monday, the leaders of PML-N, PPP and MMA said the time had come that all democratic forces, admitting their past mistakes, get united and launch a final round of movement to oust the military from power once for all.

The book is based on Javed Hashmi’s letters written from jail to his daughters, relatives and friends, covering religious, political, social and cultural problems facing the humanity.

In various letters, Javed Hashmi has commented on the political situation prevailing in the country and has also referred to the ongoing judicial crisis.

He has predicted a bright future for Pakistan, saying that the political scenario had changed after March 9 in the wake of the bold stand taken by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry for the independence of judiciary.

Former president Justice (retired) Mohammad Rafiq Tarar, while speaking on the occasion, predicted that a massive public pressure would force the military rulers to step down.

He held President Gen Pervez Musharraf responsible for the bloodbath in Karachi and said the orders of the Sindh High Court’s chief justice could not have been flouted without his instructions.

He regretted that while people were being brutally killed in Karachi, the president was addressing a rally marked by dances and music.

Mr Tarar urged the judiciary to break the shackles of military’s subjugation, saying that the chief justice had determined a course of action for the judiciary.

PML-N Chairman Raja Mohammad Zafarul Haq alleged that President Musharraf wanted fragmentation of Pakistan. He said the agenda of the people was different from that being pursued by the rulers.

Aitzaz Ahsan of the PPP said the judiciary in the past had been bowing to the rulers’ pressures that caused unprecedented loss to its credibility, but Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s defiance to a military ruler had boosted its image.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed of the Jamaat-i-Islami said all opposition members should resign from assemblies to stop President Pervez Musharraf’s re-election from the sitting assemblies.

Syed Zafar Ali Shah of the PML-N said the day the opposition parties would resign Mian Nawaz Sharif would be back.

Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani of the PPP said Benazir Bhutto had clearly stated that her party would never accept Musharraf in uniform and if he tried to get re-elected from the present assemblies the party reserved the right to resign.

Leader of the Opposition Maulana Fazlur Rahman also stressed that the division of opposition over the issue of resignation would benefit the rulers. He said tendering resignations would be counter-productive if it was not done through a consensus decision.

The speakers called for complete unity among the opposition and observed that they should stop suspecting each other’s intentions and launch a movement for the rights of the people of the country.

They also demanded that an interim government be formed to conduct free and fair elections after which every political party should respect the people’s mandate and power be handed over to the majority party in the parliament.

Many of the speakers said Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto should immediately come back to Pakistan and play their role in the national politics.