PESHAWAR, June 5: The People’s Party Parliamentarians has held the successive military regimes and their hand-picked politicians responsible for the multi-faceted crisis the country faces today.
Speaking at a seminar entitled “Political and Constitutional Crisis in Pakistan’, organised by the Bhutto Shaheed Foundation on Monday night, Punjab president of the party Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi said lack of mature political leadership after the death of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and the assassination of prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan, coupled with the dominant position held by the armed forces, had changed the direction of the polity in the country. On the other side of the border, India continued its journey towards complete democracy under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru and his political lieutenants.
Mr Qureshi said the imposition of martial law and restrictions on politicians under the draconian ABDO law had dashed all hopes for a federal parliamentary dispensation in the newly-created country. He was of the view that military dictator Gen Mohammad Ayub Khan had promoted the colonial mentality of masters and slaves and strengthened a rising ruling class which was an ally of the US in this part of the world.
He said Pakistani rulers employed administrative methods for the resolution of political issues, while the Indian leadership used political means for the same kind of problems. He said it was a “short story of huge suffering” which was still haunting the political workers in the country.
Gen Ziaul Haq, he said, had started and completed “cleansing of politics” and he gave birth to a society based on corruption, extremism and zealotry. Gen Pervez Musharraf, he said, had promoted his own agenda of de-politicisation.
He used the National Accountability Bureau as a political tool and forced the docile politicians to serve under his authority. He said Gen Musharraf had promoted religious forces and accepted madressah certificates as being equivalent to graduation.
Gen Musharraf, however, miscalculated the power of the bench and the bar while ‘suspending’ the Chief Justice of Pakistan.
He said the NAB had launched a smear campaign against politicians and maligned them in the eyes of the people, but he himself had failed to give a clean government to the people.
He said the PPP had learnt a lot from its mistakes and it would not repeat them. He said the era of military dictators was over, because the world had become a global village.
Speaking on the occasion, SBF chairman Maj-Gen (retd) Naseerullah Baber said it was the age of new generation wherein he and people like him could pray for success. He said the generals had destroyed the country.
He said the action against the Chief Justice of Pakistan and subsequent steps worked as a catalytic agent and triggered the crisis which had become unmanageable for the rulers.
PPP provincial president Rahimdad paid tributes to Syed Qamar Abbas who was killed on May 6 in Peshawar.
Dr Kamal briefed the audience about the structure and working of the foundation and asked the people to come forward and extend their helping hand to the NGO in its welfare activities.