NEW YORK, Dec 23: One of Pakistan’s leading human rights lawyers urged the United States to examine whether President Pervez Musharraf is really indispensable to fighting terrorism and indicated the answer would almost certainly be “no.”

Hina Jilani, the UN special representative on human rights defenders, said that since the Sept 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, militants in Pakistan have gained control of territory not only in tribal areas but in populous settled regions and “militancy has increased,” including in the capital Islamabad.

“You don’t fight terrorism,” she added, by purging the Supreme Court of judges who showed an independent streak for the first time, or “by sending out the perception ... that terrorists are victims of injustice.”

“Now the United States thinks Musharraf is indispensable for fighting terrorism in Pakistan,” said Ms Jilani, a founder of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. “These facts need to be very closely looked at to assess the indispensability of Musharraf.”

Ms Jilani, speaking at a luncheon on prospects for democracy in Pakistan, stressed that she did not want to understate or dismiss the issue of terrorism in Pakistan. But she said “those who think that terrorism is a threat to Pakistan’s democracy must realise that it is only one of the threats,” and that Pakistanis have to deal with other “very critical issues.”

She recalled the six-week state of emergency that ended on Dec 15 in which Mr Musharraf purged independent-mind judges, arrested almost 6,000 lawyers and hundreds of opposition figures, and reined in the independent media.

Ms Jilani, who was the target of an arrest warrant but was outside the country, said arrests are continuing. Before ending emergency rule, she added, Mr Musharraf unilaterally changed the Constitution to entrench decisions he had made during the crackdown.—AP