ID :
36565
Fri, 12/19/2008 - 20:37
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http://m.oananews.org//node/36565
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Sharif acknowledges Kasab belongs to Pakistan; slams Zardari
Islamabad, Dec 19 (PTI) Challenging President Asif Ali
Zardari's assertion that there was no proof that the arrested
Mumbai attacker hailed from Pakistan's Punjab province, former
premier Nawaz Sharif has said that the suspect's village was
cordoned off and his parents were not allowed to meet anyone.
"I have checked myself. His (Ajmal Amir Iman alias
Ajmal Kasab) house and village has been cordoned off by the
security agencies. His parents are not allowed to meet
anybody. I don't undertand why it has been done," Shraif, who
hails from Punjab, said in an interview to Geo News channel.
"The people and media should be allowed to meet Iman's
parents so that the truth could come out in the open," he
said, adding that "We need some kind of introspection."
Zardari, who earlier acknowledged that the
perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage could be 'non-state' actors
from Pakistan, has now said there is still no "real evidence"
that the terrorists who attacked Mumbai came from Pakistan.
"Have you seen any evidence to that effect. I have
definitely not seen any real evidence to that effect," Zardari
told BBC in an interview earlier this week.
Pakistani security agencies and local officials in
Faridkot have launched a cover-up since India made it public
that Kasab belonged to the village in Punjab province and his
father acknowledged to a Pakistani newspaper that the gunman
captured in India was his son.
Sharif also slammed President Zardari's rule, saying
the functioning of the current Pakistan People's Party-led
government is making Pakistan look like a "failed state".
Pakistan presents the picture of a failed and
ungovernable state due to the absence of the government's writ
and the country urgently needs a new roadmap to pull it out of
the problems it is currently facing, he said.
The PML-N chief said the dictatorial rule of former
President Pervez Musharraf had made the country ungovernable.
"Since 1977, the army has ruled the country for more
than 20 years... A state subjected to frequent military
intervention in politics can only become ungovernable."
He said India should have shared intelligence about
the Mumbai attacks with Pakistan instead of approaching the UN
Security Council.
Sharif also criticised what he described as the
government's "clarifications" regarding the purported
violation of Pakistani airspace by Indian fighter jets.
Noting that Pakistan was getting isolated in the
international community, Sharif said there is a need to find
the root causes of terrorism. He also condemned Zardari's
reported statement that US drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal
areas would continue.
The government should make it clear to the US that
such attacks went against the country's integrity and would
not be tolerated, he said.
Though the PPP-led government had been in power for
ten months, there was little hope of any improvement in the
affairs of the state, Sharif said, adding that it was up to
the nation to decide whether to make Pakistan a failed state
or a successful state.
Sharif said the PML-N wanted an independent judiciary
and the repeal of the 17th constitutional amendment, which
gives the President sweeping powers, including the ability to
dissolve parliament and to dismiss the Prime Minister.
The PML-N will pressure the government to implement
the Charter of Democracy, which according to him, was the
"will" of slain PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto. Sharif and
Bhutto signed the Charter in 2006 when they launched a joint
movement against Musharraf while they were both in exile.
The Charter envisages wide-ranging reforms, including
the scrapping of the President's powers, making the judiciary
independent and clipping the powers of the military.
Sharif said if the PPP did not agree to implement the
Charter, the PML-N will introduce a bill in parliament to
repeal the 17th constitutional amendment.
Asked what the PML-N will do if the bill is rejected
in parliament, he said: "We will prefer to solve all problems
through parliament and our party has no intention to stage
street demonstrations, because that will destabilise the whole
system."
"Our party does not want ministries and I do not wish
to hold any high post. We want the PPP-led government to
complete its five-year term. We want to repeal the 17th
amendment, the independence of the judiciary and the rule of
law in the country," he said.
Replying to a question, Sharif said that according to
President Zardari, promises were meant to be broken. But the
PML-N is "very serious about our promises", he added.
Sharif made it clear that the PML-N wants to see the
PPP-led government complete its tenure. The PML-N will also
give the government a last chance to implement the Charter of
Democracy before bringing a bill to repeal the 17th amendment
in parliament, he said.
He also called for a clear roadmap to address the
problems and challenges facing Pakistan.
"If the present government does not move in that
direction, then the press, political parties, civil society,
lawyers, students and intelligentsia should join hands and
evolve a new social contract and for that purpose, a national
conference should be called," he added. PTI RHL
SAK
NNNN
Zardari's assertion that there was no proof that the arrested
Mumbai attacker hailed from Pakistan's Punjab province, former
premier Nawaz Sharif has said that the suspect's village was
cordoned off and his parents were not allowed to meet anyone.
"I have checked myself. His (Ajmal Amir Iman alias
Ajmal Kasab) house and village has been cordoned off by the
security agencies. His parents are not allowed to meet
anybody. I don't undertand why it has been done," Shraif, who
hails from Punjab, said in an interview to Geo News channel.
"The people and media should be allowed to meet Iman's
parents so that the truth could come out in the open," he
said, adding that "We need some kind of introspection."
Zardari, who earlier acknowledged that the
perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage could be 'non-state' actors
from Pakistan, has now said there is still no "real evidence"
that the terrorists who attacked Mumbai came from Pakistan.
"Have you seen any evidence to that effect. I have
definitely not seen any real evidence to that effect," Zardari
told BBC in an interview earlier this week.
Pakistani security agencies and local officials in
Faridkot have launched a cover-up since India made it public
that Kasab belonged to the village in Punjab province and his
father acknowledged to a Pakistani newspaper that the gunman
captured in India was his son.
Sharif also slammed President Zardari's rule, saying
the functioning of the current Pakistan People's Party-led
government is making Pakistan look like a "failed state".
Pakistan presents the picture of a failed and
ungovernable state due to the absence of the government's writ
and the country urgently needs a new roadmap to pull it out of
the problems it is currently facing, he said.
The PML-N chief said the dictatorial rule of former
President Pervez Musharraf had made the country ungovernable.
"Since 1977, the army has ruled the country for more
than 20 years... A state subjected to frequent military
intervention in politics can only become ungovernable."
He said India should have shared intelligence about
the Mumbai attacks with Pakistan instead of approaching the UN
Security Council.
Sharif also criticised what he described as the
government's "clarifications" regarding the purported
violation of Pakistani airspace by Indian fighter jets.
Noting that Pakistan was getting isolated in the
international community, Sharif said there is a need to find
the root causes of terrorism. He also condemned Zardari's
reported statement that US drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal
areas would continue.
The government should make it clear to the US that
such attacks went against the country's integrity and would
not be tolerated, he said.
Though the PPP-led government had been in power for
ten months, there was little hope of any improvement in the
affairs of the state, Sharif said, adding that it was up to
the nation to decide whether to make Pakistan a failed state
or a successful state.
Sharif said the PML-N wanted an independent judiciary
and the repeal of the 17th constitutional amendment, which
gives the President sweeping powers, including the ability to
dissolve parliament and to dismiss the Prime Minister.
The PML-N will pressure the government to implement
the Charter of Democracy, which according to him, was the
"will" of slain PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto. Sharif and
Bhutto signed the Charter in 2006 when they launched a joint
movement against Musharraf while they were both in exile.
The Charter envisages wide-ranging reforms, including
the scrapping of the President's powers, making the judiciary
independent and clipping the powers of the military.
Sharif said if the PPP did not agree to implement the
Charter, the PML-N will introduce a bill in parliament to
repeal the 17th constitutional amendment.
Asked what the PML-N will do if the bill is rejected
in parliament, he said: "We will prefer to solve all problems
through parliament and our party has no intention to stage
street demonstrations, because that will destabilise the whole
system."
"Our party does not want ministries and I do not wish
to hold any high post. We want the PPP-led government to
complete its five-year term. We want to repeal the 17th
amendment, the independence of the judiciary and the rule of
law in the country," he said.
Replying to a question, Sharif said that according to
President Zardari, promises were meant to be broken. But the
PML-N is "very serious about our promises", he added.
Sharif made it clear that the PML-N wants to see the
PPP-led government complete its tenure. The PML-N will also
give the government a last chance to implement the Charter of
Democracy before bringing a bill to repeal the 17th amendment
in parliament, he said.
He also called for a clear roadmap to address the
problems and challenges facing Pakistan.
"If the present government does not move in that
direction, then the press, political parties, civil society,
lawyers, students and intelligentsia should join hands and
evolve a new social contract and for that purpose, a national
conference should be called," he added. PTI RHL
SAK
NNNN
