The Hindu : Front Page : We are also learning, please give us time: Musharraf tells West

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Monday, Nov 05, 2007
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We are also learning, please give us time: Musharraf tells West

ISLAMABAD: Under attack from the West for clamping Emergency, Pakistan President General Musharraf wore the shield of “learning” and told them not to demand of his country their level of democracy

The General, while taking on his critics, also compared his situation with that of former American President Abraham Lincoln.

Trying to send a message to the world, especially the West, the United States, the European Union and the Commonwealth, Gen. Musharraf said: “ [To] the critics and idealists against this action, I would like to say, please do not accept or demand your level of democracy which you have learnt over four centuries.”

“Please give us time. Please do not accept the same level of civil liberties and human rights that you earned over centuries. We are also learning. Please give us time,” he said in an apparent effort to blunt calls by the West for rapid restoration of democracy in Pakistan.

“We are trying to learn and we are doing very well. Please give us time,” the General said.

“I would ask you to kindly understand the criticality of the situation inside and around Pakistan. Pakistan is on the verge of destablisation,” Gen. Musharraf said.

Quotes Lincoln

Comparing his situation with that of Lincoln, Gen. Musharraf read out his quotation justifying imposition of martial law in 1864. “The justification was necessity,” he said.

Quoting Lincoln, he said life cannot be put to risk for a limb and sometimes a limb had to be amputated to save life.

Step down: Sharif

The former Pakistani Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, has urged General Musharraf to step down following the imposition of emergency.

Asked what General Musharraf should do now, Mr. Sharif told ‘Sky News’ on Sunday: “Step down, because he is part of the problem ... the more he prolongs his misrule, Pakistan will be moving towards anarchy.” Mr. Sharif, speaking by telephone from Saudi Arabia, said he had every intention of going back to Pakistan. — Agencies

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