Was Musharraf right to deport Sharif?

ISLAMABAD: The deportation of Nawaz Sharif has been widely slammed across Pakistan by the opposition parties, human rights activists, civil rights groups and the general public, maintaining that such underhand tactics won’t help General Musharraf prolong his dictatorial rule.

The chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Asma Jahangir, has described the deportation of Sharif as a day light kidnapping for which she suggests criminal cases should be lodged against those responsible.

“Nawaz Sharif could have been arrested for whatever charges the government wished to pursue against him. However, since the days of the Musharraf regime have been numbered, it deemed it fit to go to the last extent and commit a grave contempt of court”, she said.

Resenting the deportation of Sharif, the New York-based Human Rights Watch has said that the Musharraf regime was bent upon eroding the authority of the superior judiciary besides victimising its political opponents.

Ali Dayan Hasan of the HRW said the deportation was tantamount to contempt of court for which all those responsible should be charged.

Dayan said Musharraf would have respected independent court decisions had he been serious about human rights, the rule of law and a return to democracy.

Renowned lawyer Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan said Sharif’s forced exile was in total violation of the law of the land and the apex court should take strict notice of this utter contempt of court. He said the apex court could even ask the government to produce Sharif before the court. Aitzaz expressed the hope that the Saudi authorities would not stop Sharif from travelling back to Pakistan because he has been sent into forced exile against his will.

“We will challenge the deportation in the Supreme Court,” Khawaja Asif, a lawmaker of Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz, said. The party will hold countrywide demonstrations on Tuesday against the government’s move to deport Sharif, he said.

Meanwhile, there was division in Musharraf’s camp right up until the end on how to handle Sharif. While some had advocated taking a hard line, Mushahid Hussain, a top official in the ruling party, said last week he feared a backlash if the government interfered. “If you try to block him and do something contrary to the Supreme Court ruling, it could have unintended consequences,” he said.