Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Sindh General Secretary Taj Haider on Monday said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had accorded de-facto condonation to military takeovers by applying Article 6 of the Constitution merely to the imposition of emergency on November 3, 2007, but not to the military takeovers by General Rtd Pervez Musharraf and General Zia-ul-Haq.
He said PML-N has once again repeated its policy of shouting hoarse on one thing and doing just the opposite. The aim and purpose of Article 6 was to stop unconstitutional takeovers, he added.
Taj said that the 18th amendment abated the abeyance of the constitution and tentamounted it to high treason, he observed.
He accused that it is obvious that the high propaganda of invoking Article 6 while killing its real aim and purpose is a cheap tactic to divert public attention from the meticulously planned sectarian killings.
“These killings themselves were an attempt to unleash mad religious frenzy to divide the working classes who are protesting on serious issues like inflation, unemployment and unconstitutional privatisation,” he alleged.
“PPP had sought the review of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s judicial murder,” he said, adding that this case would have laid bare the doings of Zia-ul-Haq and his military, political and judicial partners in subverting the constitution.”
“Unfortunately, the Supreme Court (SC) does not have the time to hear the reference,” he said, adding that “Trial of General Musharraf for the military takeover of October 1997 would have exposed besides other matters, the working out of the agreement between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the dictator with the guarantees given by a third country.”
He said that the reservations expressed by eminent lawyers on routing the case through the SC which is the final appellate court leavers no doubt in one’s mind that an exit strategy for the dictator has already been planned.
“Old tricks do not work in new situations,” he said. For the sake of democracy, he requested the PM that on his next visit to Pakistan, he should advise his colleague to stop being clever and adopt an honest and straight forward approach to vital issues.