Religious leaders term Musharraf exit defeat of govt

 

LAHORE: Religious leaders have termed the fleeing of General (retd) Pervez Musharraf from the country despite being under trial for crimes like high treason, murder of a high-profile political leader and detention of judges, the defeat of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and a slap in the face of country’s legal and justice system.

They alleged that Musharraf was let go Scot free under a secret deal with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who failed   to keep his words of punishing the dictator, despite having the option of issuing an executive order to stop him from flying abroad.

Tanzim-e-Islami Emir Hafiz Akif Saeed said the PML-N government and its allies had been calling Musharraf a national criminal. But in the end, they mysteriously kept mum, though the Supreme Court asked the government many times to clear its position on prosecuting the dictator.

Delivering his Friday sermon at Bagh-e-Jinnah Masjid, Hafiz Akif said Musharraf’s exit was a moral defeat of the Nawaz government and nothing short of a slap in the face of judicial system of the country. He said those who gave guard of honour to Musharraf and those who removed his name from the ECL were equally to be blamed.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) President Pir Ijaz Hashmi said March 18 would go down in the history as the blackest day for the country and the Sharif family, which conspired with the worst dictator in the country’s history to allow him to go abroad.

He said the PML-N had paved the way for any future military dictator to abrogate the Constitution, assassinate politicians and commit crimes against humanity and then go scot free.

Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Liaquat Baloch said Nawaz Sharif must tell the nation why his government facilitated a dictator to fly from the country. JI Naib Emir Hafiz Idris said Musharraf had called a meeting of his party leaders soon after landing in Dubai, which showed that all reports about his serious health condition were fake and he wanted to flee the country only.