LAHORE, Dec 1: The trial of Gen (retired) Pervez Musharraf under Article 6 seems to be a well-planned strategy of the government to divert the masses’ attention from the ongoing grave issues like unprecedented price hike, terrorism etc.

This was consensus among participants in a meeting of the Lahore Forum held under the chairmanship of former foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri here on Sunday.

They were of the view that since the 18th Amendment removed the legal cover accorded by 17th Constitutional Amendment to military takeover by Gen Musharraf, it would have been in the interest of justice if the proceedings of the case were started from Oct 12, 1999.

Begum Mehnaz Rafi, Mujeebur Rehman Shami, Prof Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi, Irshad Arif, Salim Bukhari, Saeed Aasi, Brig (retired) Farooq Hameed, Farrukh Sohail Goendi, Taufiq Butt, Hafiz Tariq, Mazhar Qayyum, Salman Abid, Tanwir Shahzad, Qayyum Nizami, Dr Ajmal Niazi and others believed history was a witness to the fact that selective justice was no justice at all and that people could not be fooled by such actions in the name of justice.

Appreciating the government’s ongoing targeted operation in Karachi to restore peace in the country’s economic hub by going after banned extremist or sectarian groups, target killers, extortionists and land mafia, they felt it was essential to keep up the momentum of the security agencies’ action that was already showing positive results.

They were of the opinion that there was a strong need for depoliticising police all over the country and imposing a complete ban on politically motivated recruitment.

The participants were unanimous that dialogue with banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was the preferred option to achieve a lasting peace in FATA. They, however, strongly felt that it was in the interest of Pakistan, its image, economic wellbeing and stability that the state’s writ should be established and law and order restored at all costs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA, if talks with militants collapsed.

They commended the media for taking caution and acting responsibly by not showing footages of violence and bloodshed on Youm-i-Ashur in Rawalpindi.