LONDON, Nov 11: Hundreds of physicians of Pakistani origin staged a two-hour long protest rally in front of the Pakistan High Commission here on Sunday which was later joined by big crowds of PPP, PML (N) and Therik-i-Insaaf leaders and workers as well as students and other professionals.

The placards held by doctors read: Darkest day in Pakistan’s history — 3rd Nov; Constitution once again mutilated; Top judges of judiciary detained, held incommunicado; Lawyers & civil society incarcerated, tortured & protests brutally suppressed, brutal smothering of media & freedom of expression.

The gathering kept chanting slogans against Gen Musharraf, emergency rule and the PCO with party workers waving flags of their respective parties and shouting Benazir Zindabad, Nawaz Sharif Zindabad and Imran Khan Zindabad.

The leaders of the rally rejected Gen Pervez Musharraf’s promise of holding the election by January 9 and said he should retire from the army and step down from the presidency and let the Chairman of the Senate hold the elections after forming a government of national consensus to oversee the polls.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) in reaction to General Musharraf’s announcement said that genuine elections in Pakistan were not possible so long as the constitution remained suspended and the country remained under emergency rule.

In a press release issued here, the HRW called Gen Musharraf’s announcement as ‘a cynical sop’ to the international community meant to deflect attention from his ongoing power grab.

“There can be no transition to democracy or genuine elections when thousands of General Musharraf’s opponents are imprisoned, the media remains muzzled, and General Musharraf continues to slander and detain the ousted Chief Justice, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, and Pakistan’s senior judiciary,” the press release said.

Continuing, the HRW said that Pakistan’s human rights situation was rapidly growing worse.

“Human Rights Watch is particularly concerned about wide-ranging powers granted through presidential decree to the Army on November 10 to court-martial civilians. The amendment will be deemed to have taken effect retrospectively from Jan 2003.”

Calling these measures illegal under international law, the HRW said, having ousted the judiciary and with it any hope for the rule of law, Gen Musharraf was now moving to institutionalise repression by intelligence agencies, particularly, the military’s ‘feared’ Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.

“Musharraf is on a collision course with Pakistani society. It is time for the international community, particularly, the US, to end its support for Musharraf.

By failing to do so, the US risks losing whatever remaining goodwill it enjoys in Pakistani society,” said the HRW statement.