Asghar Khan case verdict: Let bygones be bygones, says Pervez Musharraf
Says clash of institutions will shake foundations of state.
KARACHI:
Former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf, commenting on recently renewed tensions between state institutions, said these were the pillars of the state and a clash would shake the very foundation of Pakistan.
In an exclusive interview on Express News' To the Point with Shahzeb Khanzada, he refused to comment on the political fallout of the Supreme Court judgement on the Asghar Khan case and the demand to put retired generals on trial for poll rigging and conspiring against people’s mandate.
“We should look at the present situation and plan for the future. The country is confronted with a host of crises; nobody is talking about these, everybody has started digging up graves and looking for skeletons in the closest – for heaven’s sake, think of Pakistan,” the ex-president said.
Musharraf added that the Asghar Khan case was 15 years old,and at that time, a ‘different political culture’ existed and there was ‘a totally different environment’ in which these decisions were taken.
Saying that people should not “get bogged down in the past”, the former dictator said that if they wanted to open up past cases, they should also publish the Hamoodur Rehman Commission Report and fix responsibility for the breakup of East Pakistan, as well as probe Ayub Khan’s takeover and the assassination of prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan.
Regarding the accountability of the army, Musharraf said it has a very strong system of accountability. A naval chief was booked by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), but cases against the politicians were not framed by the army, he added.
When asked whether he agreed with the decisions of the Supreme Court, the former president had a surprising answer to give: “I think only Almighty Allah is above the Supreme Court, and I accept its decision and would not like to comment on it.”
He said it was ‘very sad’ that the Asghar Khan verdict has led to a blame game.
Regarding the emergency of November 3, 2007, Musharraf said the establishment, the military brass, and the government at that time were taken on board with the decision.
The former president, now living in self-exile, said that if the court decides to put Gen Beg and Durrani on trial, it should be so – but should not give the perception that the action is against the army as an institution. Weakening the army would mean weakening Pakistan, he emphasised.
Musharraf brushed aside Gen Beg’s claims that someone, but not army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, would impose martial law. He also rejected claims that he was behind the creation of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, the religious right-wing alliance that formed the government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan after the 2002 elections. “Why would we support our opponents?” he asked, asserting that the 2002 polls were fair.
The former dictator claimed that there were only 13 or 14 unaccounted for missing people in Balochistan, and that the rest “go away to fight Jihad in Afghanistan and Kashmir, or take to the hills in Balochistan”. Musharraf said he would ‘definitely’ return to Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2012.
Former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf, commenting on recently renewed tensions between state institutions, said these were the pillars of the state and a clash would shake the very foundation of Pakistan.
In an exclusive interview on Express News' To the Point with Shahzeb Khanzada, he refused to comment on the political fallout of the Supreme Court judgement on the Asghar Khan case and the demand to put retired generals on trial for poll rigging and conspiring against people’s mandate.
“We should look at the present situation and plan for the future. The country is confronted with a host of crises; nobody is talking about these, everybody has started digging up graves and looking for skeletons in the closest – for heaven’s sake, think of Pakistan,” the ex-president said.
Musharraf added that the Asghar Khan case was 15 years old,and at that time, a ‘different political culture’ existed and there was ‘a totally different environment’ in which these decisions were taken.
Saying that people should not “get bogged down in the past”, the former dictator said that if they wanted to open up past cases, they should also publish the Hamoodur Rehman Commission Report and fix responsibility for the breakup of East Pakistan, as well as probe Ayub Khan’s takeover and the assassination of prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan.
Regarding the accountability of the army, Musharraf said it has a very strong system of accountability. A naval chief was booked by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), but cases against the politicians were not framed by the army, he added.
When asked whether he agreed with the decisions of the Supreme Court, the former president had a surprising answer to give: “I think only Almighty Allah is above the Supreme Court, and I accept its decision and would not like to comment on it.”
He said it was ‘very sad’ that the Asghar Khan verdict has led to a blame game.
Regarding the emergency of November 3, 2007, Musharraf said the establishment, the military brass, and the government at that time were taken on board with the decision.
The former president, now living in self-exile, said that if the court decides to put Gen Beg and Durrani on trial, it should be so – but should not give the perception that the action is against the army as an institution. Weakening the army would mean weakening Pakistan, he emphasised.
Musharraf brushed aside Gen Beg’s claims that someone, but not army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, would impose martial law. He also rejected claims that he was behind the creation of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, the religious right-wing alliance that formed the government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan after the 2002 elections. “Why would we support our opponents?” he asked, asserting that the 2002 polls were fair.
The former dictator claimed that there were only 13 or 14 unaccounted for missing people in Balochistan, and that the rest “go away to fight Jihad in Afghanistan and Kashmir, or take to the hills in Balochistan”. Musharraf said he would ‘definitely’ return to Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2012.