The Hindu : Front Page : Decisive battle ahead, says Nawaz Sharif

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Tuesday, Nov 06, 2007
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Decisive battle ahead, says Nawaz Sharif

Atul Aneja

Engaged in consultations over course of action

DUBAI: The former Pakistan Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, told The Hindu that civil society and other political forces in his country were gearing up for a “decisive battle” against the attack on civil liberties and political rights by President Pervez Musharraf.

Describing the declaration of Emergency by General Musharraf on Saturday as “martial law,” Mr. Sharif said the civil society’s response against the move was swift and energetic. “The reaction from the civil society, political forces and the lawyer community is very severe, and I think that is how it should be. This is a very healthy sign.”

Speaking over the phone on Monday from Jeddah, where he landed up after being forcibly put on a plane after his arrival in Islamabad from London in September, Mr. Sharif said “a mass uprising is very essential to check the actions of the dictator in Pakistan.”

He said this was necessary because a crackdown against Gen. Musharraf’s opponents had begun. “A lot of our political workers have been arrested, especially from our party. Human rights activists have been picked up, the civil society activists have been picked up; the lawyer community members have been picked up…. So the whole country is under siege.”

Mr. Sharif explained his statement that what Gen. Musharraf had declared was not an “emergency” but “martial law,” thus: “Emergency does not give any powers to any person in the country to suspend the Constitution. [The] Constitution has been suspended and that has happened only under martial law in Pakistan. So this is something worse than martial law because the Supreme Court has also come under the attack of the Chief of the Army Staff.”

Asked about his role in the current situation, he said: “We are engaged in active consultations to determine the next course of action. We are putting our heads together with the civil society, the lawyers’ community and the human rights activists because we want to rid the country with the mess that it is in. The whole country is now revolving around one man who has taken 160 million people hostage.”

On his return to Pakistan, he said he was “in the process of doing that [planning his return]. I am talking to my hosts here. I hope something good will come out of it.

Asked whether he expected the Emergency rule to prolong, Mr. Sharif said he was unable to conclude at this juncture whether his country was facing a long-term or a short-term problem. “I hope [our problem] is short term because Gen. Musharraf’s ratings [at present] are at its lowest.”

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