The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : India should extend all help to Pakistan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 31, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

India should extend all help to Pakistan

Special Correspondent

Ram Jethmalani bats for democracy

HYDERABAD: Former Union Law Minister Ram Jethmalani has described the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto as the biggest setback to democratic process initiated in Pakistan and called for highest statesmanship to keep the process going.

Speaking to reporters here on Sunday, Mr. Jethmalani said the announcement by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that his party would boycott elections was not a wise one to restore democracy in Pakistan. He wanted all democratic parties to come forward and establish a democratic Government.

The main agenda of all parties should be to strengthen democracy and have friendliest of relations with other democratic countries. “If Mr. Sharif does not participate, the Pakistan People’s Party is leaderless without Benazir Bhutto, elections will be a farce”, he said, adding that the situation could result in an extremist or a fundamentalist party assuming power or the status quo maintained.

Mr. Jethmalani felt a great opportunity would be missed if parties in Pakistan are not serious about elections. No one in India should be happy about it. It is in the interest of India that Pakistan becomes a democracy as democracies do not go to war, he said.

Hoping that Pakistan returns to normalcy, the legal luminary said statesmanship requires that India publicly promise all help to the neighbour in establishing democracy.

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