Treason case: Aides ask why try Musharraf alone
'This is a diversion tactic from the clashes in Rawalpindi,' says Musharraf's lawyer.
Former dictator General (retd) Pervez Musharraf. PHOTO: AFP
KARACHI:
While the government has maintained that there is ‘nothing personal’ about its pursuit of a high treason case against General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, the former president’s legal and political representatives feel it is a last-ditch attempt to keep him in the dock.
“This is a diversion tactic from the clashes in Rawalpindi,” Musharraf’s lawyer Ahmed Raza Kasuri tells The Express Tribune. “You will see in a few days that nothing will happen.”
Kasuri maintains that Musharraf alone cannot be held responsible for the events that led to the enforcement of emergency rule in Pakistan in November 2007. “From governors to the corps commanders, the court will have to summon hundreds of people who were involved,” he says. “In fact, why start with 2007? Why not start with the 1999 coup which was validated by the Supreme Court, or even Ayub Khan’s martial law in 1958?”
He went on to say that the emergency was justified as the former general suspended the constitution to save the state. “In 1971, when Bhutto tried to save the constitution, Pakistan was split into two. Musharraf chose to save the state over the constitution.”
The All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) information secretary Tariq Kaleem Syed reiterates this sentiment. “If this Pandora’s Box is opened, the names of many people will come forward. It will not be so easy for the government to go after him alone.”
Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervaiz Rasheed says that the government is acting in accordance with the apex court’s guidelines. “We have only filed our request after the Supreme Court directed us to do so. To say that we are distracting people from the Rawalpindi issue is not correct. Unfortunately, such things are almost a daily occurrence in our country. We are simply following the law. Musharraf committed a crime and the law must take its course.”
Had the government not made a formal request to the Supreme Court, Rasheed says critics would have suspected that a deal has been struck with Musharraf.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 19th, 2013.
While the government has maintained that there is ‘nothing personal’ about its pursuit of a high treason case against General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, the former president’s legal and political representatives feel it is a last-ditch attempt to keep him in the dock.
“This is a diversion tactic from the clashes in Rawalpindi,” Musharraf’s lawyer Ahmed Raza Kasuri tells The Express Tribune. “You will see in a few days that nothing will happen.”
Kasuri maintains that Musharraf alone cannot be held responsible for the events that led to the enforcement of emergency rule in Pakistan in November 2007. “From governors to the corps commanders, the court will have to summon hundreds of people who were involved,” he says. “In fact, why start with 2007? Why not start with the 1999 coup which was validated by the Supreme Court, or even Ayub Khan’s martial law in 1958?”
He went on to say that the emergency was justified as the former general suspended the constitution to save the state. “In 1971, when Bhutto tried to save the constitution, Pakistan was split into two. Musharraf chose to save the state over the constitution.”
The All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) information secretary Tariq Kaleem Syed reiterates this sentiment. “If this Pandora’s Box is opened, the names of many people will come forward. It will not be so easy for the government to go after him alone.”
Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervaiz Rasheed says that the government is acting in accordance with the apex court’s guidelines. “We have only filed our request after the Supreme Court directed us to do so. To say that we are distracting people from the Rawalpindi issue is not correct. Unfortunately, such things are almost a daily occurrence in our country. We are simply following the law. Musharraf committed a crime and the law must take its course.”
Had the government not made a formal request to the Supreme Court, Rasheed says critics would have suspected that a deal has been struck with Musharraf.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 19th, 2013.