- Differences not with SC but with certain judges, says former premier
- PML-N president recalls Justice Azmat Saeed’s ‘hurtful’ statement that ‘Nawaz Sharif should know there’s a lot of space in Adiala Jail’
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) President and former premier Nawaz Sharif said that no court has ever come into existence in Pakistan which could try dictators.
He said this while expressing his grievances, following his ouster for the third time, to a group of lawyers gathered at Punjab House, Islamabad on Tuesday.
The PML-N chief, claiming that he had been “persecuted” over the years and “pushed towards revolt”, drew parallels between what he considered to be his own ‘cornering’ by the state and the events that led to the secession of Bangladesh from Pakistan.
“Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was not a rebel, but was made into one,” Sharif remarked, referring to the tragic consequences that followed the state’s refusal to allow a popularly elected leader to hold the prime minister’s office.
Nawaz remarked that he wants to forget all these wounds. “I don’t want to take them to a point where my emotions get out of my control,” he warned.
“What has been done to me, and to all the elected prime ministers in this country’s history, is not correct,” he continued. “What kind of return for service to the nation is this?”
Demanding an end to the usurpation of democratically-elected governments, he asked that those involved in behind-the-scenes manipulation of the political order repent for their sins and ask for forgiveness from the nation.
He went on to say that his differences are not with the Supreme Court (SC) but with certain judges who did not decide his case [Panama Papers] on merit.
Nawaz complained that judges welcomed every martial law and said that whenever there was a military coup in the country, no one would know about it but this is not the case today. The three-time prime minister demanded a trial for military dictators in the same way that he was tried in the Supreme Court.
Regarding the current Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar’s suo moto notices of conditions at public hospitals, Sharif said, “Feel free to go to these hospitals, but also look at what is happening in your own courts. Hundreds of thousands of cases are pending in court and people are awaiting their decision.”
“Justice is so expensive that even I am tired of paying my lawyers’ fees,” Sharif said.
Recalling that the Orange Line train project in Lahore had been threatened with closure, Sharif said, “It has already remained closed for a very long time, for which the people hold the judges responsible.”
The PML-N president claimed that he is not accused of even a single rupee worth of corruption. “And when nothing came up, they made an Iqama the reason of disqualification instead of Panama,” he added.
Stressing again about the need to introspect, Sharif said United States President Donald Trump’s statement should have been an eye-opener for the nation, but nothing happened.
“Should the humiliating language used by Trump be acceptable to any country,” Sharif asked, adding that the nation needs to hold itself accountable for why it was in such dire straits. “We are the only country in the whole world which is being made to listen to these kinds of statements but are not ready to introspect,” he said.
“The nations which do not hold themselves accountable face such attacks time and again.”
Nawaz also recalled a case pertaining to promotion of a grade-19 female officer in which he quoted SC’s Justice Azmat Saeed as saying about him that “Nawaz Sharif should know there is a lot of space in Adiala Jail.” The former premier said that he wrote to then Chief Justice Jamali about Justice Azmat Saeed’s harsh comments about him [Nawaz].
He said that such comments are hurtful, and added that he respects the courts and asks that they respect other institutions in return.
He also took on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, saying while he [Nawaz] had been disqualified over an ‘imaginary salary’, “those with ‘different standards’ have been declared Sadiq and Ameen.”
Nawaz lamented that PTI chief Imran Khan’s record of five-years was deemed enough during his disqualification case in the Supreme Court, whereas his [Nawaz’s] record from his school days from 1962 was sought.
Criticising the judgement in Imran Khan and Jahangir Tareen’s disqualification case, Sharif complained that, unlike him, they were not tried by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) despite so much being there against them.
“I am here to tell you that I am not going to be scared or worried,” he affirmed, before asking for support from the lawyers present.
Earlier, while meeting party workers, Nawaz said that judges should speak through their judgments. The former premier, in his talk, also said that a campaign of revenge has been launched against him, adding, “I will face every conspiracy.”
The PML-N chief also stated that the standard of justice should be the same for everyone. “The country should benefit from the sacrifices that I have rendered,” he added.
Nawaz’s daughter Maryam Nawaz, Punjab Governor Rafique Rajwana and PML-N Chairman Raja Zafarul Haq were also present at the meeting with lawyers.