ISLAMABAD, March 4: Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Mian Nawaz Sharif has warned President Asif Ali Zardari of an unending agitation if the sacked judiciary is not restored to its pre-Nov 3, 2007 position.

Speaking at a lawyers’ national conference here on Wednesday, he said that the country was still in the grip of a few adventurer generals and judges despite restoration of democracy after the Feb 18 elections.

He appealed to all segments of society to take part in the long march and sit-in planned by lawyers for the restoration of judiciary.

Mr Sharif said that at the time of the move to impeach Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf, the PML-N was assured that judiciary would be restored within 24 hours of his ouster.

He said that had his party boycotted the polls the PPP would have given indemnity to Gen Musharraf.

He defended PML-N’s decision of taking part in the elections and said “because we are in parliament we were able to throw Musharraf out of power and resist illegal steps of the government”.

He said President Zardari had offered a ‘business deal’ but the PML-N turned it down and as a result he faced disqualification and lost the government in Punjab. He said chief justice Abdul Hamid Dogar had also offered a deal and that also was rejected.

Mr Sharif said both the offers were rejected because “we believe that Pakistan cannot progress without an independent judiciary”.

Jamaat-i-Islami Amir Qazi Hussain Ahmed said his party would fully participate in the long march and sit-in.

He said the main demand during the long march would be restoration of judiciary and trial of Pervez Musharraf under Article 6 of the Constitution.

He said that chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was deposed because he had taken suo motu notice of missing persons and he was against the National Reconciliation Ordinance.

The Qazi urged the lawyers’ leadership to plan to bring as many people as possible to Islamabad.

Tehrik-i-Insaaf chief Imran Khan described the lawyers’ movement as a national struggle and said it must succeed.

He said the agitation would be peaceful and if the government used violence the responsibility for consequence would lie with President Zardari.

Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan said the peaceful long march would not let the national leadership down. He said Benazir Bhutto had promised to restore the deposed judges.

Former ISI DG Lt Gen (retd) Hameed Gul, chairperson of Pakistan Missing Persons Society Amena Masood Janjua, Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith chief Prof Sajid Mir, former AJK prime minister Sardar Atiq Ahmed Khan, Salimullah Khan of Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan and Brig (retd) Mehmood Hassan of the ex-servicemen’s society also spoke.

The conference adopted a resolution calling for a peaceful and sustained long march followed by a sit-in till its objectives are met.

The resolution said: “This conference is of the view that the actions of Nov 3, 2007, by Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf were unconstitutional and these need to be repealed and the judiciary that existed on Nov 2 ought to be restored.”

Earlier, the lawyer leaders announced the schedule for the long march and sit-in.

The march will begin from Quetta and Karachi on March 12 and will reach Sukkur in the evening. A caravan of lawyers will reach Lahore from Multan on March 14. The march will reach Islamabad on March 16 and the sit-in for an indefinite period will begin the same evening.
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