Excellent article summing up Nawaz Era
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan''Go, Nawaz, go!'' chanted the crowds. ''Remove Nawaz, save the country,'' shouted thousands of protesters in an anti-government rally march towards the provincial Parliament to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Traditional opposition parties and hard-line Islamic groups joined the chorus including Watto, Imran Khan, Rao Sikander, Shah Mehmood, Chatta, Nawabzada Nasrullah, Aftab Sheikh and Tahir-ul-Qadri.
In another demonstration organized by Qazi Hussain Ahmads Jamaat-i-Islami Qazi declared, "Now Nawaz and Pakistan cannot go together. He will have to quit".
Qazi claimed that Sharif's tenure was the blackest of all periods and called for Jehad against his government. Imran Khan remarked, "Nawaz runs Pakistan like a Mughal-e-Azam. Its a sham democracy. We are heading for anarchy.
Late Mrs. Bhutto stated from London, The government must resign paving way for fresh elections under a neutral set-up. The government has lost its political and moral legitimacy.
Prime Minister Sharif played down the significance of the demonstrations in public saying they cannot reverse the huge majority that he won in the election in February 1997. The police was ordered to open fire at the opposition crowd and marchers showed reporters blood spots on their clothes and signs of beatings.
All this happened during a democratically elected government whose landslide mandate had a few parallels in the countrys history with perhaps the solitary exception of East Pakistans Mujibur Rehman in 1970.
A major flaw in the Pakistani electorate is its quickness to forgive and forget the faults of civilian rulers and quickly blame the military rulers for misfortunes befalling Pakistan.
While military rule might be considered dictatorship but the truth is that they have always replaced despotism masquerading as democracy. Every "democratic" leader in Pakistan thus far has been a tyrant and a manipulator of the magical word, only interested in consolidating power, amassing personal wealth and hoodwinking the public, least interested in tackling the real issues facing the populace.
Sharifs second stint in power qualifies him to fall into this category. By the time he had completed his first year in office he had successfully damaged all established institutions of the country and set the stage of total autocratic reign indulging in personal corruption, and political megalomania.
This included repealing the president's constitutional power to dismiss governments, (13th Constitutional Amendment) bringing the parliament virtually under his thumb, (14th Constitutional Amendment) forcing the resignations of the chief justice of the supreme court (1997 Constitutional Crisis) and of an Army Chief, and cracking down on the press and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
The first important example of the tussle between the executive and the judiciary was the confrontation between the Chief Justice and the Prime Minister in 1997, when the Chief Justice held Sharif in contempt of court for using derogatory language against him and other judges. This episode was resolved in Sharifs favour when he created a revolt in the Supreme Court that led to the Chief Justices resignation.
It was amusing to read the tamer of the Judiciary stating that his first order if he returns to power would be to restore the deposed judges and return an independent judiciary to the country.
Why did he not practice in power what he is preaching today or is he suffering from amnesia and doesnt remember that he as PM unleashed his entire propaganda machinery to undermine the independence of the Judiciary?
He had no patience for independent judges and thought nothing of replacing those who disagreed with him and used the Supreme Courts benches to take vengeance on opponents, to silence opposition leaders and to uphold his governments decisions. The judges under political influence use to pass the judgment first and hear the witnesses later. Political workers in a premeditated attack, invaded the Supreme Court several times, with weapons, abused the judges, indulged in violence and forced the overthrow of the Chief Justice which not even Pakistan's previous rulers - civilians or dictators ever did.
Today he talks of press freedom which he tried to curb within one month of power by passing the Registration of Printing Press and Publication Ordinance, 1997 which authorized magistrates and sub inspectors to initiate executive actions including the forfeiture of newspaper copies without the process of judicial review and restraint. The intolerance unleashed saw newspapermen not already silenced by tax investigations directly arrested and beaten and individual journalists harassed and intimidated.
Today Zia-ul-Haqs protégé claims to be a democracy campaigner fighting for the constitution and the rule of law that he repeatedly trampled under his feet with draconian laws such as the Ehtesab Accountability Law, under which a number of prominent politicians and bureaucrats of the opposition party were arrested and detained. The Anti- terrorism Act or license to kill empowered the law enforcing agencies to kill a person on mere suspicion and to search houses and arrest people without a warrant. The law turned the country into a police state, violating the constitution and fundamental rights. Military courts were set up for the trial of civilians without lawful authority and human rights violations such as extra-judicial killings, staged encounters, deaths in police custody and floggings were rampant.
To buttress his power further and ensure undisputed and indefinite rule Sharif used Islam as means to an end, to establish a new Islamic order by imposing Shariat (15th Constitutional Amendment) which meant being crowned as Ameer-ul-Momineen empowered to enforce what he thought was right and prohibit what he considered was wrong in Islam, irrespective of what the constitution or any judgment of the courts said. Wasnt that establishment of theocratic fascism? It was during Sharifs tenure that Islamic laws were promulgated in the Malakand Division and Kohistan districts of Hazara Division, in 1999 The Ismaeli community of Chitral vigorously protested against the introduction of Islamic regulations.
On the economic front Sharifs blunders were phenomenal. His governments Ehtesab bureau suspended the operations of many foreign investors who had set up independent power plants (IPPs) to generate and supply much-needed electric power to the country. The reason cited was that the IPPs had been bribed by the previous Benazir government. The net effect of the governments action against the IPPs was to scare off potential foreign investors who preferred not to risk their own contracts being terminated at the whim of one or another government.
The government imposed a state of emergency after conducting its first nuclear tests. Fundamental rights were suspended in an apparent move aimed at freezing the foreign currency accounts of the people which further undermined domestic and foreign investor confidence. 13 billion dollars in the FCAs, including three billion dollars of overseas Pakistanis evaporated. The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the imposition of emergency. When the Lahore High Court declared void Section 2 of the Foreign Exchange (Temporary Restriction) Act, 1998, freezing foreign currency accounts and ordered their immediate restoration the court was told that the federal government had consumed all foreign currency deposits much before the May 28 nuclear explosions and the May 29 accounts freeze order. The fixation of an arbitrary exchange rate, the issuance of dollar bonds and the liquidation of FCAs as loan security were all intended to provide legal cover to its misappropriation and to evade its obligations.
Sharif claims he left a peaceful and progressive Pakistan. On the contrary he left Pakistan marred with political assassinations, religious discrimination, sectarian strife, bomb blasts and Talibinization. Pakistans Oppressed Nations Movement was formed in 1998 because of suppressed political anger against Punjab. Pakistan was plagued with financial scams, banks defaults, sugar and wheat scandals and fraudulent anti-debt drive of Karz Utaro, Mulk Sawaro. The public exchequer was robbed dry.
Pakistan was declared a failed state on the brink of economic collapse, surviving on a life- support system, gasping; while Sharifs business empire abroad rose to new heights.
Nations future is safe with PAK army only!
they will be more than willing to stand up and defend the honour of Prophet Salullahu Alaihi Wa Salam. 
