HYDERABAD, May 31: About half a dozen more leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League tendered their resignations from basic membership in protest against the indifferent attitude of party leaders towards workers.

Member Sindh council and former president city taluka, Ishtiaque Hussain Qureshi and former office-bearers Fareed Shaikh, Mohammad Anwar Qureshi, Hafiz Amanullah Qureshi, Hakimuddin Qureshi and Syed Shakir Ali Shah addressed a press conference at the press club on Thursday.

According to them some opportunists were heading the party in Hyderabad district because of which senior and committed workers have begun resigning from the basic membership one after another.

Ishtiaque Hussain Qureshi criticized the role of people who were passing wrong information to the Sindh Chief Minister regarding enrolment of new members in Hyderabad district. He said they were responsible for damaging the party.

He conceded that the newly appointed district president Mir Sher Mohammad Talpur belonged to a political family but denied his influence or contact with the party workers in Hyderabad city.

The general secretary was an office-bearer of a proscribed religious outfit and did not enjoy good reputation, he said, and added: "Extremists have been thrust as leaders of the party in Hyderabad."

He accused the general secretary of malpractices and claimed that he possessed material against him which will be revealed at an appropriate time. He alleged that the general secretary had taken tickets from three parties during the 2002 elections. Unfortunately the information secretary can’t even write a press release, he said.

The PML was passing through a crucial stage as the best breed was leaving the party one by one he said and wondered why the political secretary of Sindh CM was not taking note of it though he himself was an old leaguer.

As the party had lost charm, therefore he along with some colleagues and hundreds of workers decided to resign from the party. He failed to give the exact number of resignations on query.

DRAUGHTSMEN: The All Pakistan Technical Draughtsmen Federation, at a meeting, has demanded that service structure of draughtsmen and tracers working in government departments be upgraded on the pattern of non-technical staff (clerks).

It demanded full pension to the widows of government employees, instead of half pension, and revival of selection grade and move-over scheme.