Senators engage in heated argument over Musharraf conviction
ISLAMABAD: The Senate witnessed a heated debate on Thursday between the government and the opposition over the indictment in the high treason case of former military dictator Pervez Musharraf.
Participating in the discussion, Mushahidullah Khan, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz parliamentary leader, said there should be some platform to assess the validity of the Supreme Court’s charges against Justice Qazi Faez Esa, Waqar Ahmad Seth, Peshawar High Court Chief Justice, and a former Islamabad High Court judge.
He said the verdict given by Justice Seth against Gen Musharraf was bound to be written in gold letters, whether one accepted it or not.
He regretted the alleged use of derogatory language against Justice Seth by Law Minister Farogh Naseem. “How should this state be run,” he said while challenging the ruling party’s actions.
He said that Nawaz Sharif alone had the strength to bring a case under Article 6 of the Constitution against Gen Musharraf. He remembered that in the past, Prime Minister Imran Khan had said that Gen Musharraf had committed treason, but now he was saying something else with his law minister.
The PML-N legislator called for student and trade union revival to avoid the infiltration and control of corrupt elements and political interest groups.
He condemned the recent decision by the government to withdraw from the Kuala Lumpur Summit.
Under pressure from those who did not even support Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, the government changed its decision and instead honored Narendra Modi with an award, he added.
He remembered that Nawaz Sharif had given not only land for the Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital, but also Rs500 million for it.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif, when participating in the debate on the presidential address to the joint parliamentary session, said that Gen Musharraf was unfairly blamed for all the troubles that the country faces, including bad economy, political instability and internal and external problems.
“The decision of Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth will be written in a shameful manner and in shameful words on the grounds that he gave the decision without reading the Constitution and the relevant verdicts of courts,” he said.
“I want to remind those who are happy over the sentence that this will remain mere their wish as no one can punish Musharraf,” said Senator Saif, who was once a close aide to the former military ruler.
He said the case against Mr Musharraf was of a political nature and the general was not manipulative in any way.
He said that if it had been a real case, those who supported the actions of Gen Musharraf should have been taken to the dock as well.
