September 01, 2007	Saturday	Sha’aban 18, 1428

LAHORE, Aug 31: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf chairperson Imran Khan says the country is completely in the grip of intelligence agencies which are trying to thwarting the establishment of a democratic Pakistan with the avowed objective of institutionalising the

military rule and subjecting political parties to play only a second fiddle to the ‘real’ power.

Speaking at a seminar on `Liabilities of Politicians’ organised by the Lahore Bar Association (LBA) here on Friday, Mr Khan said such a political classification was a curse for the country and continued to play havoc with the nation.

LBA president Syed Mohammad Shah, Pakistan Labour Party general secretary Farooq Tariq, Dr Mehdi Hassan, Asif Khan of Liberal Forum and LBA secretaries Shamimur Rehman Malik and Khawar Bashir also spoke on the occasion.

Mr Khan said the military rule and democracy could not co-exist. The former wanted the people and their representatives to remain subject to its will whereas the country needed a sound political culture where parliament was paramount, the judiciary was independent, the executive operated within the constraints provided by the 1973 Constitution and all the state institutions were accountable to the people.

He said politicians should learn from the past and should avoid any deal with military dictator. Such deals only benefited Gen Pervez Musharraf. He said that the ‘deal’ between President Musharraf and former premier Benazir Bhutto would leave a long term effect on national politics. Such a way would land the PPP and democratic struggle in complete darkness.

He quoted Ms Bhutto as saying that she was gathering civil powers in society but the ground reality was that she was working with forces supporting the American agenda in the region.

The PTI chief said entering into any kind of deal in the name of safe passage for Musharraf at the time when he was politically at the lowest ebb, was tantamount to compromising democracy, yielding to dictatorship and neutralising lawyers’ struggle for the restoration of democracy and independence of judiciary. “We in the All Parties Democratic Alliance will not allow such a conspiracy to succeed because Gen Musharraf is not acceptable with or without uniform,” he added.

He said the talks between Ms Bhutto and Gen Musharraf were aimed at serving their personal vested interests as the PPP chairperson wanted the withdrawal of Rs100 billion corruption cases against her and Musharraf wanted to stay in the Presidency for another five-year term even though such a re-election would be devoid of legitimacy.

He was of the view that Ms Bhutto would dent her party because its democratic and liberal elements were not happy with their leadership and were likely to form a new alliance which might get the support of the people.

Imran Khan said there was no hurdle for former exile premier Nawaz Sharif in returning home as no one could place restrictions on him and if he was arrested, he would rise as a bigger leader.

He was of the view that Gen Musharraf and his army could not win a battle in Northern Areas where about two million armed persons were up in their arms and knew the art of guerilla war.