Sunday, December 18

Nawaz Sharif didn’t take dictation from army, Tarar

Nawaz Sharif neither took dictation from the army nor bowed to any pressures instead he made sacrifices while the other politicians contacted the present dispensation, said former president Justice (R) Muhammad Rafique Tarar, while presiding over a seminar on the completion of five years of the exiled leaders held at the Lahore Press Club on Saturday.
Seminar was addressed by senior leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League (N), who lauded Nawaz Sharif’s sacrifices for democracy and the supremacy of the law.
Rafique Tarar maintained that seeing the response to Kalsoom Nawaz’s agitation, the army decided to send the Sharif family abroad. “I did not ratify any deal. So there is no legal document in this regard. Moreover, there is no law according to which the citizen of a country could not be allowed to come back,” he added. While referring to a study about the army’s assets, Tarar said it had Rs 1 trillion assets. “Army has looted the country. That is why we have $ 4 billion in loans, while over 1 billion donations, which have not been released so far,” he said. Tarar asked the PML (N) leadership to join hands with other opposition parties, and vowed to support.
Senior PML (N) leader MNA Khawaja Saad Rafique said local and Punjab level committees had been formulated to scrutinise the new entrants. “These committees have the right to veto on any person’s inclusion in the Party,” he added.
Saad maintained that Nawaz Sharif was punished for making Pakistan a nuclear power against the international pressure. “But Pervez Musharraf is playing the role of a foreign agent, and he will lose time, like his predecessors did, because elected MNAs of the official party are in contact with us, which gives us certainty that we will win provided we fight tooth and nail,” he added.
President Supreme Court Bar Association Justice (R) Malik Abdul Qayyum criticised the politicians for aiding the army in coming to power. “Moreover, if the judiciary would have played its due role, then the present situation would not have arisen. Some of the politicians also welcomed General Pervez Musharraf. Even an opposition outfit MMA is party to the government,” he added. He deplored the fact that there was no supremacy of law and constitution in the country.
While referring to the judiciary, Malik maintained that the justice was being dispensed in public cases, while it was not the case when the government was involved. “Every illegitimate government knows that it would be endorsed by the judiciary one way or the other. For the present government, the judiciary gave the present ruler what he did not even ask for – right to amend the constitution,” he stated.
He was of the considered opinion that Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto should have come back when the earthquake tragedy occurred, and would have put the present ruler in test.
Malik stated that the present military rulers chose Shaukat Aziz, who was a mere official of a bank while Zafar Ullah Jamali was sent home.
Central Finance Secretary PML (N) MNA Malik Muhammad Pervaiz said there was no legal ground to dissolve Nawaz Sharif’s government and neither he was dislodged because of corruption. He vowed to the fight the dictatorship through the joint opposition, and the army would be sent back to the barracks.
Secretary-General PML (N) Syed Zaeem Hussain Qadri said Nawaz Sharif had neither struck any deal nor he would do in future, and no one can stop him from coming back to the country.
Khawaja Ahmed Hassan said the present rulers would be brought to the court of when Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto would come back to the country. MPA Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman said December 10 is a black day.
On this occasion, Mian Marghoob Ahmed, Mian Muhammad Tariq, Mehr Ishtiaq, Rana Arshad, Ch Abdul Gafoor, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and other spoke, while the programme was conducted by Majid Zahoor and Mirza Gulraiz Baig.
December 10, 2005

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