As Rawalpindi burnt, PML-N govt goes after Musharraf

ISLAMABAD, Nov 17: As sectarian clashes left scores of people dead and injured in Rawalpindi on Ashura 10, prompting the authorities to clamp curfew in the city, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan announced that the government would try former president Pervez Musharraf for treason for imposing emergency rule in 2007. It may be noted that the interior minister was elected to the National Assembly from Rawalpindi in the May 2013 elections. Speaking at a press conference, he said that following the judgment of the Supreme Court and a report submitted by an inquiry committee, it had been decided to start proceedings against Musharraf under Article 6 of the Constitution. “It is happening for the first time in the history of Pakistan and the decision has been taken in the national interest,” he added. The minister said the Supreme Court’s Chief Justice would Monday receive a letter from the government requesting the setting-up of a tribunal of three high court judges to start proceedings against Musharraf. The government would also announce a special prosecutor on Monday. The minister said that Musharraf had committed crimes against the people of Pakistan and against the constitution. He said that nobody, not even the prime minister, can offer him pardon. Musharraf had been granted bail in all cases against him since his return to Pakistan in a bid to contest general elections in May. He had been tried for his alleged involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the killing of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti, and the case relating to the murder of the Lal Masjid cleric during the army operation on the mosque in 2007. Last week he asked a court to let him leave the country to visit his sick mother in Dubai. The court was expected to rule on the application on Monday.]]>