HYDERABAD, Jan 22: Veteran leader of Pakistan People’s Party Comrade Jam Saqi said on Tuesday that national identity cards had been obtained from all the government employees in Tharparkar at the former chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim’s behest so that they could be used in bogus voting during upcoming elections.

He said at a news conference at the press club that recently 600 to 700 candidates who gave interviews for jobs in the Animal Husbandry Department in Tharparkar were told that the offer letters would be issued only to the candidates who took oath in writing that they and their families would vote for Pakistan Muslim League-Q.

He said that efforts were being made to get the general elections postponed under the pretext of sectarian and ethnic strife, which he believed would be fomented deliberately.

He urged people not to fall prey to the conspiracy and demanded that the Election Commission take notice of such evil attempts.

Mr Saqi said that he had trust in people that they would not let such conspiracies succeed. Benazir Bhutto’s sacrifice had ensured success of her party’s candidates and the onus was now on people to stamp PPP’s symbol on the election day.

He said that Rangers and police remained absent on Dec 27 and 28 to give free hand to the looters and arsonists and then lodge cases against PPP activists.

He claimed that Arbab was still calling the shots and referred to transfer of DIG of Mirpurkhas. He was transferred because he did not give protocol to Arbab. Likewise, an SHO of Mirpurkhas police station and DPO of Dadu were replaced due to similar reasons, he said.

He urged the apex court to take notice of the disappearance of political activists in Sindh and Balochistan and said that the issue of missing persons was no less important and it had certainly had played a role in the removal of Chief Justice.

Disappearances in Balochistan had taken place in the name of Balochistan Liberation Army while in Sindh association with Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz was made an excuse to pick people.

He urged the Amnesty International and other human rights organisations to take notice of the missing persons and feared that postponement of elections would lead to a serious crisis, which Pakistan could hardly withstand at this moment.

Indian Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru replaced around seven commander in chiefs while Pakistan’s military chief Ayub Khan sacked six to seven prime ministers, he said.