Daily Times

SUKKUR: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khurshid Shah has said that those trying to weaken are not sincere with Pakistan and they need to mend their ways.

Addressing a ceremony in Sukkur on Saturday, he said that attempts were also being made to create a rift between the parliament and the institutions which was unfair.

He said that dreams of development and progress could not be materialized till the people of the country will get their rights.

Shah also lashed out at former president Pervez Musharraf and asked him to return to the country and face the cases rather than issuing statements from abroad.

He said, “Return to the country like Benazir did, do politics like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto did and spend time in prison like Asif Zardari did.”

Taunting the former president’s self-imposed exile, he said, “We didn’t go abroad, we aren’t scared.”

Shah also raised question about the timing of Musharraf’s statements and asked why the former president remained quiet for 10 years.

Separately, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani called former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf a murderer.

Talking to reporters, he said if Musharraf is brave he should return to Pakistan and face cases against him. The Senate chairman stressed that Musharraf was sitting in London and Dubai enjoying life.

According to Rabbani, Benazir Bhutto had written about Musharraf in different letters.

Earlier this week, Musharraf blamed Zardari for the murder of Benazir Bhutto.

To the accusations, Zardari said Musharraf should return to Pakistan and face cases.

When asked about the Electoral Reforms Bill 2017, Rabbani refused to comment, saying this was a political matter.

However, Rabbani did state that parliament was the weakest institution when it should be the strongest.

In approving the Electoral Reforms Bill 2017, the Senate paved the way for Nawaz Sharif who was disqualified by the Supreme Court from the post of prime minister to regain the presidency of PML-N.

Meanwhile, Senior Sindh Minister for Food Nisar Khuhro urged the judiciary to ensure Musharraf’s arrest in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case.

The PPP minister also asked the army to explain why it kept quiet when the former general left Pakistan.

“Just declaring Pervez Musharraf as an absconding accused by the courts is not sufficient. Steps like approaching Interpol should be taken to bring him to the dock,” he demanded while addressing media in Hyderabad.

Musharraf recently directly accused PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari of being complicit in the murder of his wife, Benazir Bhutto, reasoning that Zardari had motive since he stood most to gain from it.

Turning the tables, Khuhro said that Musharraf was directly responsible for the murders of thousands of people who were killed in terrorism-related incidents.

He accused the former president of orchestrating the killings that took place in Karachi during the infamous May 12, 2007 rioting that shook the city, and then “arrogantly raising his fists in Islamabad to show his powers”.

“He was also responsible for killing [Baloch separatist leader] Akbar Bugti besides the Oct 18, 2007 carnage [the attack on Benazir’s Karsaz rally] in Karachi,” Khuhro alleged.

“Musharraf now claims that Benazir Bhutto’s murder was a direct loss to him, but it was his government which didn’t provide adequate security to her on Oct 18, 2007 and then on Dec 27, 2007 in Liaquat Bagh [Rawalpindi],” Khuhro said.

Turning his guns on the army, Khuhro then said the army should explain why it remained silent when Musharraf left Pakistan.

Published in Daily Times, September 24^th 2017.