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.”

National conference

PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif’s call for a national conference to evolve a strategy on combating terrorism and Prime Minister Gilani’s endorsement of the proposal have come not a moment too soon.

The Data Darbar tragedy in Lahore has underscored a grim reality: the militants are not only at war with the Pakistani state, they are bent upon subjugating the Pakistani people as well. Security installations, government buildings, mosques, schools, shrines, hospitals and markets, all have been attacked. With this blurring of targets, there is also a need to realise that, whatever their nomenclature, ideology, agenda and area of operation, the militants must now be seen in holistic terms — and their tactics unanimously condemned. This should be the thought behind the attempt to form a consensus on a strategy to curb terrorism. True, there will always be differences of opinion between those whose religious inclinations find resonance in the ideology espoused by the militants and others who believe that faith is a private affair and should be kept out of the national discourse.

But that is a debate that will have to run its course as the Pakistani nation attempts to resolve a crisis of identity that has dogged it almost since the time of independence. What is not a matter of debate is that the terrorists are prepared to stop at nothing to destroy the state and inflict their obscurantist agenda on the people.

So when the national conference takes place — and one hopes that all stakeholders will be on board and that the meeting will include not only representatives of political parties — it should be with the realisation that there is a common goal to pursue. There should be no room for blame-games or fiery speeches. Serious discussions will be required, with informed input from all concerned, so that a workable plan to thwart militancy can be put in place. Such a plan would include suggestions on how to prepare the people to take on those who threaten their way of life.

We have the example of Malakand division. Soon after the army launched an operation there in April 2009, an all-parties conference more or less unanimously backed the military action. Such political support, combined with the public’s backing, was instrumental in the army’s success in flushing out militants from the area. It will be a long-drawn-out struggle against the militants who will no doubt strike again in an attempt to demoralise the public. But given similar consensus, there is no reason why terrorism cannot be eradicated from larger swathes of Pakistan.

PML-N ‘mulls’ sacking Raja Riaz from cabinet

LAHORE: Following the outburst of Senior Minister Raja Riaz against the Lahore High Court chief justice, the PML-N elders have discussed sacking him from the Punjab cabinet, Dawn has learnt.

According to sources, the PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif expressed his annoyance over the ‘harsh stance’ Raja Riaz adopted against the judiciary and the PML-N in his press conferences.

“The elder Sharif asked Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to sack him (Raja Riaz) from the provincial cabinet as his behaviour was not worthy of a minister,” a source said.

Mr Sharif was, however, told that firing Mr Riaz (as minister) might create problems for the coalition, besides creating an impression the PML-N was ‘backing the LHC chief justice’, the source said.

The PML-N circles have reportedly taken exception to Mr Riaz’s statement in which he called the courts as “Sharif courts” and LHC CJ as “PML-N spokesman”.

“The PML-N leadership, however, has decided to talk to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani about Riaz’s harsh statements against the PML-N,” the source said.

PML-N Senator Pervez Rashid denied the party leadership had discussed “sacking of Riaz”. “Mian Nawaz Sharif convened no meeting in this regard,” he said.

He, however, refused to comment on the statement of LHC CJ Khawaja Muhammad Sharif in which he had reportedly asked the PPP to quit the coalition in Punjab if it had objections to provincial prosecution secretary Rana Maqbool.

Raja Riaz, when contacted by Dawn, said he would not mind if the Punjab government took any action against him. Besides, he added he was not even afraid of going to jail.

“The Punjab government cannot take action against me as far as my performance is concerned. I would like to ask the chief minister to investigate the matters of my ministry (irrigation). Some 70 per cent corruption has been eliminated since my assuming the charge and the income of the mines and minerals department of whom I have additional charge has increased 10 times,” Riaz said.

Nancy Pelosi pays tribute to Benazir Bhutto at documentay premiere

WASHINGTON, June 30 (APP): Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi paid glowing tribute to Pakistan’s martyred prime minister Benazir Bhutto as politicians and policymakers gathered at the premiere of a documentary chronicling courageous life and democratic contributions of the popular leader.“She gave hope for future of the country and was a model of women’s development,” Speaker Pelosi told the gathering including American lawmakers, intellectuals and Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani, senior Pakistani diplomats and Ms. Sanam Bhutto, Benazir’s sister and only living sibling.

Speaker Pelosi recalled her meeting with the Muslim world’s first and youngest woman prime minister in 1989, when Benazir Bhutto visited Washington and met with members of US Congress. Pelosi described the meeting with the young leader as a “thrill of the lifetime.” Pelosi spoke at the National Geographic Society headquarters where ‘Bhutto,’ a riveting documentary on life and work of the Pakistani icon of democracy - was screened by the Independent Television Service.
Speaker Pelosi told the audience she found Benazir Bhutto an “informal and unassuming” figure, although she was an immensely popular and fascinating politician.
She was a “great leader in the world,” Pelosi said of Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated on December 27, 2007, months after her return to Pakistan.
Ambassador Husain Haqqani, paying tribute to one of the most popular and influential leaders of the era, said Benazir Bhutto represented aspirations of the Pakistanis for modern democracy, empowerment of the poor and a model for intelligentsia. “She was a tolerant leader and had full faith in democracy, an inspiring figure for the people desiring change in their lives,” he added.
The ambassador informed the audience how the former prime minister motivated people to stand up against extremism and said she was the first politician who “fearlessly” spoke against parochialism.
Highlighting her ideas and ideals for democratic advancement, Ambassador Haqqani hoped that Pakistan would become a modern democracy as envisioned by Benazir Bhutto.
The 150-minute documentary captures the epic tale of the life, career, and assassination of Benazir Bhutto, who broke the glass ceiling as the first elected woman leader of Muslim world.
A post-screening discussion hosted by PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff provided additional perspective on the film and Benazir Bhutto’s life and work. The film’s director Duane Baughman and producer Mark Siegel participated and answered questions.