By Prasun Sonwalkar
London (IANS) : Pakistani cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan has pledged to lead an underground movement against the Musharraf government after escaping house arrest when emergency was declared on Saturday.
In a statement released through his former wife Jemima Goldsmith, he alleged that the police had ransacked his house and ill-treated his family. Khan is the president of the political party Tehrik-e-Insaf.
The party’s representative here, Hina Jilani, Monday addressed a highly charged gathering of about 200 outside the Pakistani high commission and criticised the Musharraf government.
The gathering included British Asians of Pakistani origin, representatives of lawyers’ associations and students from the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London School of Economics (LSE) and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Except Tehrik-e-Insaf, no other Pakistani party’s flags were raised.
Khan said in the statement: “The police have ransacked my house and ill-treated my family members. Our aim is to continue the struggle and mobilise the youth of the country from underground. This move of Musharraf’s will ignite militancy and extremism.”
He also accused former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and the US of working behind the scenes to keep Musharraf in power.
Meanwhile, the joint executive committee representing the Indian Workers’ Association (IWA) and the Association of Indian Communists met in Leicester and expressed solidarity with the people of Pakistan.
Hardev Bains, general secretary of the IWA, told IANS that the committee perceived the declaration of emergency as “in all but name a return to martial law”. The committee called for restoration of democracy as the earliest.
The committee said in a statement: “Under the pretext of combating extremism and terrorism this proclamation by General Musharraf, the second time during his tenure, is being described as a military coup to safeguard his position to the Presidency. A decision by the Supreme Court of Pakistan was due on Nov 9, 2007.
“The communities represented by the Indian Workers’ Association (GB) and the Association of Indian Communists express their solidarity with the people of Pakistan for the restoration of democracy at the earliest opportunity.”