MIRPURKHAS, Aug 25: The chairman of the Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party (STP), Dr Qadir Magsi, on Saturday accused Gen Pervez Musharraf of being too lenient with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

He said in his address to the members of Mirpurkhas District Bar Association that the All-Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) would put and end to military’s interference in the country’s politics.

He said that the MQM people headed 19 out of 26 departments of the province and accused the party of hatching conspiracies against the integrity of the province and trying to bifurcate it to create a new province.

Mr Magsi said that the APDM would give complete autonomy to all the provinces and warned that no one would accept any dictation from any army general or international power.

He said that the Charter of Democracy signed between Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif was not meant to work under a military general and termed the construction of Kalabagh Dam as economic massacre of 40 million people of Sindh.

The government was deliberately imposing load-shedding on people to compel them to accept the Kalabagh Dam, he charged, adding, that the dam would only irrigate the barren lands of Dera Ismail Khan, Laiya.

He advised the water and power department to safeguard the interests of the provinces. The APDM would hold a large public meeting on Sept 12 in Karachi, he said.

RALLY: Members of paramedical staff association, including women, staged a rally on Saturday in protest against district in-charge of the national programme for family planning and primary health care accusing her of demanding bribes for funds’ release.

The protesters started their march from the Civil Hospital and terminated at the press club.

Their leaders charged that the district in-charge was forcing lady health workers to pay bribes for getting their difference bills amounting to Rs12,500 each, released.

The bills had been approved and funds released but the district in-charge was forcing lady health workers to pay her Rs3,000 to Rs4,000 bribe for issuing the amount.