Nawaz seeks US support for democracy

WASHINGTON—Former Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Quaid Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) have urged the United States to support the Pakistani nation instead of single individual.
America should not alienate over 165 million Pakistanis by supporting President General Pervez Musharraf who prefers rifles to reason, he added this in an editorial published in Washington Post on Sunday.
By refusing to associate with a military dictator, Former US President Clinton essentially won the hearts of the Pakistani people. That was the policy that should have been pursued by U.S. President George W. Bush, he noted.
Former Prime Minister said, “My country is in flames. There is no Constitution. Judges have been illegally sacked on a whim and unlawfully arrested, political leaders illegally locked up, television channels unlawfully taken off the air”, he added. .
Human rights activists, lawyers and other members of civil society are bearing the brunt of an illegal crackdown by a brutal regime, he said, adding that, extremism has assumed enormous and grave proportions.Tyranny is never a substitute for freedom and military dictatorship is not a substitute for civilian democracy, because there is no substitute for real democracy, Sharif pointed out.
Musharraf’s self-serving contention that a free vote would result in extremists coming to power is utterly flawed and intended to frighten the West, he maintained.
The people of Pakistan, he said, are waiting for the powerful voice of America to be heard clearly by the enemies of freedom. The generals must go back to the barracks and the judiciary should be reinstated as it stood before the illegal proclamation of Emergency, Former Prime Minister demanded.
Describing President Pervez Musharraf as “Pakistan’s one man calamity”, former Prime Minister and PML (N) Chief Nawaz Sharif has urged the United States to look beyond Pervez Musharraf and focus on the country which according to him was “in flames.”
The former premier, in an opinion piece in a leading US newspaper, said that “My country is in flames. There is no Constitution. Judges have been sacked on a whim and arrested, political leaders locked up, television stations taken off the air.... Extremism has assumed enormous and grave proportions.”
He said all of this is the doing by one man while pointing towards President Pervez Musharraf. Claiming that dictatorship was fuelling extremism in Pakistan, the exiled PML (N) leader reminded Americans that President Bill Clinton had refused to shake hands with Musharraf or be photographed with him during a Presidential visit in 2000.
He said, “People took that as a gesture from a friend who wished Pakistan well. By refusing to associate with a dictator, President Clinton essentially won the hearts of the Pakistani people. That was the policy that should have been pursued. That is the policy that should be pursued now. America should not alienate 160 million Pakistanis by supporting a dictator who prefers rifles to reason.”
Nawaz Sharif urged the US and other Western countries to ignore, what he called, the “lies” being spread by Musharraf that his exit will lead to anarchy and the extremists will take over Pakistan.—Agencies