Senators belonging to the PML-N and ANP endorsed Rabbani’s demand to try Musharraf under Article 6. Speaking in the Senate which began its winter session on Tuesday Raza Rabbani, who is also chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, presented a 10-point charge sheet against Musharraf for his trial under Article 6. He said Pervez Musharraf was the person who gave the country’s airbase to foreigners and thus endangered national security. “Not only did he hand over the Shamsi airbase to the Americans, there was no written agreement for this and neither the defence ministry nor the ministry of foreign affairs has any record in this regard,” he said.
Rabbani said Musharraf was responsible for the Balochistan operation and had sacked and arrested judges of the superior courts. “General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf twice abrogated the Constitution and imposed emergency on November 3 which was not only an act of treason but also an open war against the Supreme Court,” he said.
Raza Rabbani, who had refused to take oath as a federal minister under the former dictator, said the Supreme Court’s decision clearly declared the imposition of emergency of November 3, 2007 as a violation of the Constitution and in the light of this decision the federal government should file a case of treason against Musharraf. “If he returns he should be sent to jail in the murder case of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto in which he has been declared an absconder,” he added.
Raza Rabbani, who is also deputy secretary general of the PPP, said that Musharraf is also named in the murder of Nawab Akbar Bugti. He said Musharraf not only played havoc with the federation but also weakened the provinces by sowing the seeds of mistrust among them.
PML-N’s Raja Zafarul Haq endorsed Rabbani’s views and labeled Musharraf a national criminal. ANP’s Zahid Khan said not only Musharraf but Ziaul Haq too was a national criminal who threw the country into the quagmire of terrorism. He said every one protested drone attacks but no one protested the use of Pakistani soil by foreign militants, which was also a violation of sovereignty. “We often hear that Arab or Chechen militants were killed in a drone attack. The presence of these militants on our land is a violation of our sovereignty. We should be told who brought them here,” he said.
The opposition in the Senate asked the government to order that US drones, which have resumed attacks after a pause of one and a half months, be shot down. Drone attacks were apparently suspended after Pakistan suspended Nato supplies following the attack by Nato forces on the Salalah check-post.
Raising the issue on a point of order, Professor Khursheed Ahmed said following the attack on the Salalah check-post the military leadership had assured the Parliamentary Committee on National Security that in the future no drone attacks would be allowed but these attacks had been resumed now and no action was being taken to shoot them down.
No comments:
Post a Comment