Trial for treason

The appearance of Musharraf in court should certainly make others think before taking steps in undermining democracy.


Editorial June 25, 2013
PML-N government needs to be congratulated for its courage in taking this step. PHOTO: AFP

We have a new  “first” in our history. A former military ruler faces treason charges for acts committed during his tenure in power. The Nawaz Sharif government has brought a case for high treason, which carries a maximum penalty of death under Pakistani law, against former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, who ruled the country from 1999 to 2008. Aside from his illegal takeover of power in 1999, overthrowing the elected Sharif government, the emergency he declared in November 2007, suspending the superior judiciary, clamping down on the media and other basic rights have been widely interpreted as acts of treason. The Supreme Court had already said it was the government, which was required to bring a treason case against General (retd) Musharraf, who currently remains under house arrest in Islamabad.



There can be no doubt the PML-N government needs to be congratulated for its courage in taking this step. It could prove vital to our future. Doing the “right thing” has never been a pressing priority in the country, especially when it comes to issues related to the military. This time round, things could change. As citizens, we must hope this will indeed happen, setting a key precedent for the future. The appearance of General (retd) Musharraf in court for treason should certainly make others think harder before taking similar steps in undermining democracy, seizing power and subverting the Constitution.

General (retd) Musharraf’s lawyer has immediately dismissed the move as a means to distract people from other problems, such as the energy and the economic crises. But this may be too simplistic a view of the development. The key question for Pakistan will be how the military reacts to the action against General (retd) Musharraf and what the final outcome is to be. Certainly, the court proceedings themselves will be closely followed and each statement made during them carefully noted. This, in itself, is extremely significant in the light of our history, where domination by the military has blighted democracy, and in fact, made it impossible for elected governments to operate. Perhaps, things will now change. We must hope this is the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26th, 2013.

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COMMENTS (14)

AnisAqeel | 10 years ago | Reply

@hamza khan: "nonsense. complete and utter nonsense." And very bitter too, difficult to swallow also if one really has only one sided ticket.

naeem khan Manhattan,Ks | 10 years ago | Reply

I have seen several comments in his support in this news paper, people has the democratic right to express their views but my question to all these supporters is whether General Musharraf has violated the constitution of Pakistan. To outsiders like myself, yes, he has in 1999 and 2007, another question is whether they have any respect for their country's constitution. Sure, these military dictators world over never respected their constitutions and specially who could forget when General Zia stated about Pakistani Constitution that it was a piece of paper which could be torn into thousand pieces and he did figuratively. If Pakistanis will ever respect their constitution and the laws of the land , then we will not be supporting military take overs by these Bonaparte with the barrel of the gun. Yes, it is very possible that Pakistan will be a very different country in the 21st Century as a stable democracy. Musharraf should be provide the utmost facilities to have his case presented in the court of law and the justices should see to it that they are bending backward to be fair to him and let the world know that Pakistan judiciary could also match any country's judiciary for being fair. If found guilty then he should be given the maximum punishment considering the political situation at that time but not hanging him under any circumstances as they did to ZAB.

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