Daily Times

Sir: It is sad and disappointing to see the silence of all the political parties on the arrival of Musharraf in Pakistan for contesting the forthcoming elections. All those who used to proclaim that he was allegedly involved in major criminal events in Pakistan during his nine years of power including treason, murder, sacking of the judiciary and misuse of power, are now quiet. Leaders of the PML-N, PPP, PTI and other political parties, which had been demanding his arrest, trial and punishment have gone into the trenches, saying nothing and observing a total blackout on Musharraf’s arrival. This is indicative of their fake honesty and sincerity to serve the country. All political tycoons are there to work for their vested interests and no one has the guts to stand up for reality and in support of all the allegations against the dictator. Conspicuously, Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan, Asif Zardari and other advocates of democracy are not vocal in justifying their allegations. The irony of the prevailing situation is that scrutiny of Musharraf’s nomination papers for NA-48 (Pindi) and NA-250 (Karachi) have been rejected while NA-32 has been approved by the returning officer (RO) of Chitral against the same reference for scrutiny and the validity of his papers.

Though the ROs may use their discretion in this regard, there seems to be a lack of wisdom on their part in interpreting the charges against him. Apart from this abnormality, ROs have made a mockery of the screening process of applicants by asking irrelevant questions. Rather than asking poll and performance-related questions about issues faced by the constituents and their ability to deal with them, ROs are asking for kalma recitation and spell check questions, which are totally redundant and irrelevant. The ECP’s justification in this regard is also inappropriate. If Musharraf has come to face the charges against him, he should be arrested and tried in a neutral court of law before he can contest the elections. He is roaming around because we do not have honest and sincere political leaders and a viable system to deal with this kind of absconder. Our leaders are more receptive to the power holders outside the country rather than standing for principles and justice.

MOHAMMAD ASHRAF

Winnipeg,

Canada