Rule of law must for progress: Nawaz

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Quaid Nawaz Sharif has said that he is not annoyed, but regrets the treatment that was meted out to him during the dictatorship. In an interview with a private TV channel, he recalled his confinement in the Attock Jail. “Once an Army major came and informed me in a mysterious manner that he had joined as the superintendent and was tasked with taking care of me. “At that moment, I recalled the episode of my arrest from the Prime Minister’s House. The troops that came had guns directed at me and gave the impression that they could open fire any moment. “The same night three generals came to me to get a piece of paper signed that I refused. The attitude of Gen Mehmood was the worst, but I challenged them to get the paper signed if they could,” Nawaz said, adding he regretted the threat he faced in Attock. “I had asked them what they desired from me. I refused to listen to the language they were using against me and told them that they could throw me in the river.” Nawaz was sure that such a behaviour could not have been meted out in the colonial era. To a question, he said the paper that they wanted to get signed was his resignation as the prime minister and dissolution of the National Assembly under certain articles of the Constitution. At that stage, they were enraged and threatened me of dire consequences. But I replied that it could only happen over my dead body. Then they threw the paper on the table and started requesting me and after repeated refusals, they again became violent. He said Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had not signed a similar paper. “People came out on the streets to restore the chief justice but no one came for me.” Nawaz Sharif said he was not aware about his release, but one morning a representative of the Saudi king came along with Hariri, who is currently the prime minister of Lebanon, and “told me that they were there to take me away as desired by King Abdullah. They informed me that they had already met my parents and that my entire family was in favour of my accompanying them as King Abdullah had called me.” He disclosed that by that time, many Pakistan Muslim League leaders, including Sheikh Rashid, Pervaiz Elahi, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Ejazul Haq, had not only betrayed him but had also captured the party office and burned their pictures. “That happened when I was in the Attock Jail and the takeover was carried out under the protection of the ISI and the MI.” Nawaz Sharif went on to explain that the period of dictatorship was more than that of democracy in the country. “I took over as the Punjab chief minister after participating in the 1985 non-party elections,” he said, adding there had been democracy in India but in Pakistan there was a mixture of democracy and dictatorship. “Those who imposed the military rule and those whoi supported it had committed great mistakes. With the passage of time, it was realised that we must get rid of the martial law.” He was full of praises for Gen Karamat but said that one of his statements was against the national interests. At times, difference of perceptions had developed with Gen Aslam Beg but he used to appreciate the crux of the matter. The appointment of the Rawalpindi corps commander by the prime minister was a tradition eversince the Junejo period and Aslam Beg had also asked me to do so. I had appreciated that gesture but I also disliked some of his statements. Without naming certain countries, Nawaz Sharif said he had not agreed with Beg when he suggested strategic alliance with them. “It was because we were a part of the allied forces that were deployed in Saudi Arabia. The rulers in Saudi Arabia had pointed out this situation, saying such statements were emanating from Pakistan when Pakistani troops were with them.” Nawaz recalled that the question was also raised with President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and exchange of views was held with Gen Aslam Beg. At times, he was associated in policymaking. “I never had differences with anyone because I believed in moving ahead in accordance with the Constitution, get them implemented and take note if anyone crossed the limits.” With regard to dismissal of his government in 1993, the former prime minister was of the view that the action was taken on flimsy grounds. “My government was restored by the Supreme Court that was unprecedented in the country’s history. Things became very complicated and I decided to seek a fresh mandate. In this connection, I set aside the perception that Gen Kakar mounted pressure. My father was also irked over my stance but I was sure of sweeping the elections. On the contrary, Benazir Bhutto won the elections because we never knew that secret agencies also had a role.” When asked about the reaction from the Army to the Kerry Lugar law, the PML-N chief said there might have been reservations but they were not supposed to issue a handout on the subject. The Army was supposed to talk to the government and express its point of view and the government was supposed to carry forward their stance. He admitted as a mistake the appointment of Pervez Musharraf as the Chief of the Army Staff. He avoided a question with regard to the extension of the tenure of the Army chief and said repeating the question was not advisable as our troops are in the state of war. When asked about the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, he said he could not forget the moment. “A meeting was scheduled between me and her, but it could not take place because of her death.” When I rushed to the hospital after her death, the PPP workers had gathered around me and said Nawaz would ensure revenge for Benazir. I had promised to do it at the first available opportunity. Comparing his relations with Benazir and Zardari, he said she was very straightforward with him. Had she been alive, things would have been better. We were political adversaries but theenmity was over, Nawaz said. About Zardari, he said initially he was sincere. Although, he had signed the document to restore the chief justice but he did not mean it. That was the beginning of worsening of our relations. It ended up with my disqualification and dissolution of the Shahbaz Sharif government in the Punjab. He asked how Musharraf had accumulated Rs 580 million. Accountability has to be across the board. Corruption is never restricted to politicians. Generals, journalists, judges and civil servants had also plundered this country alongside politicians, Nawaz insisted. There has to be homework about the future of the country, Nawaz said. All the stakeholders and institutions have to sit down and evolve a methodology to run the country in accordance with the Constitution if a deadly revolution has to be avoided in the country. None should cross the limits of the Constitution and an economic and foreign policy has to be framed for the next two decades. Policies are not to be altered with the change of governments, he asserted. The former prime minister said the defence budget should also be discussed in parliament. With regard to normalisation of relations with India, he said the Kashmir issue by now would have been resolved, had there been no interruption in the peace process that was launched with the arrival of Vajpaee in Lahore in 1999. He said Pakistan was not the only party to the Kashmir problem, the people of Kashmir and India are also to be taken on board. With regard to relations with the US, he said there had been ups and downs in the last 60 years. The policy adopted by Clinton was positive and same is the case with Obama. Bush had ties with Musharraf only; he had no relations with the people and political parties of Pakistan. Nawaz said it was a mistake not to establish relations with Russia. The policy to dominate Afghanistan by Pakistan had failed in the past and we have to leave it now. Nawaz said as compared to the past, he had become more vocal and straightforward. “I spend two hours with my mother when I am in Lahore. She loves me and prays for me a lot whenever I meet her,” Nawaz said. Recalling his early childhood, he said his mother used to give him four Annas. He used to spend two Annas to purchase sandwiches and the rest for cold drinks. Recalling the best childhood friend, Nawaz said Shabbir Sharif Shaheed was his school days friend, who was martyred in the 1965 War. Khwaja Asif is his friend since they were in the Government College, Lahore. “My father also loved me a lot. He used to speak with me in Urdu while my mother talks in Punjabi. I used to draw inspiration from my father who taught me to serve the country and the poor.”