Ground Report

Officials in the Pakistan Govt have hinted that the general elections might be put off for another year as hundreds of political activists were arrested by police yesterday.  During the second day of martial law declared by President Pervez Musharraf, police raided the homes of opposition party leaders and activists and confiscated the equipment of journalists covering the raids. The Sunday crackdown was  a pre-emptive measure to weaken the massive demonstrations planned for Monday. Among those detained were acting heads of parties of Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, school teachers and lawyers. Human Rights Watch, an international advocacy group, condemned the reported arrests as "an appalling attack on human rights defenders."