PADF Condemns Musharraf for “Kidnapping, Deporting Former PM”
By Hazem Kira

Chicago, Illinois: The Pakistan American Democratic Forum (PADF), a grassroots organization founded in 1982 to help restore democracy in Pakistan, has condemned Gen Musharraf and his regime for defying the Supreme Court of Pakistan by first manhandling, then kidnapping and deporting Mian Nawaz Sharif, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Basically a monarchy was persuaded by a superpower to do the dirty job of a dictator, who has, inter alia, violated Article 15 of the Constitution of Pakistan, which reads, “Every citizen shall have the right to remain in, and, subject to any reasonable restriction imposed by law in the public interest, enter and move freely throughout Pakistan and to reside and settle in any part thereof.”
The PADF statement in part reads:
Gen. Musharraf’s contemptuous disregard for the Supreme Court of Pakistan has created a crisis that could lead to a breakdown of the entire Justice System.
By allowing foreign security agents to openly interfere in the internal affairs of Pakistan and to take away a former Prime Minister against his will, the Musharraf government has further surrendered Pakistan’s sovereignty to foreign powers.
The US State Department has turned a blind eye to a dictator’s blatant disregard for the rule of law, particularly the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“Airport sources in Jeddah confirmed that Sharif had arrived in Saudi Arabia and that security officials had whisked him away to an undisclosed destination.” Basically a monarchy was persuaded by a superpower to do the dirty job of dictator.
Gen Musharraf’s is hardly in a position to preach to anyone about morality, when he has himself confessed in autobiography: “I was quite serious when I announced that I would remove my army chief's hat by December 31, 2004. But events that soon began to unfold started putting doubts in my mind…. I decided to go against my word. I decided not to give up my uniform.” (In the Line of Fire, P. 177).
A major political party presently supporting this unconstitutional act may live to regret its decision to do so. Ms. Benazir Bhutto will be well-advised to re-read what Gen Musharraf has written about her in his autobiography: “But all efforts by the PML (Q) to work with them failed, for the sole reason that Benazir Bhutto would not countenance anyone else from her party becoming prime minister. She treats the party and the office like a family property.” (P. 175).
We urge the Supreme Court of Pakistan to hold a hearing and punish the culprits.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------