KARACHI:
Kamran Khan said on his Geo TV programme ‘Aaj Kamran Khan Kay Sath’ that
a new political controversy has emerged when it was attributed to Gen
(retd) Pervez Musharraf or his new lawyer, Dr Farogh Nasim, that either
Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf or he wants the army to either dissociate
itself from Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf and announce that the decision
of November 3 was solely Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s or the army
should as an institution accept responsibility for the November 3
emergency.
Kamran Khan said that it has become clear now that the neither Musharraf nor his lawyer stated so. However, in order to know the exact situation and to know what Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s stand is, we are going to talk to Musharraf’s lawyer Barrister Farogh Nasim.
Kamran Khan: Thank you very much for being on the programme. Please let us know whether the statement that the Army should take responsibility for the November 3 act or that Musharraf should take sole responsibility, is issued by Musharraf or has it been attributed to you?
Farogh Nasim: I think the context has been misunderstood because the media is a bit oversensitive. Maybe some anchors are getting it wrong. However, there is absolutely nothing like that. I was simply shocked to see a mention in yesterday’s judgment that when the court asked Musharraf’s lawyers whether it was Musharraf’s individual act or whether it was on other people’s advice, they said that it was an individual act and it was not based on other people’s advice. It was natural for me to be shocked because the instructions that my client has given me is that “I have acted upon the advice...I took the action on the advice of my prime minister or that of the cabinet...and other people were consulted”. So when I asked Pervez Musharraf, he said it was incorrect so I asked him to kindly ask his lawyers for a clarification, and then we have to take the appropriate steps. It’s just nothing. In fact, I am saying that our Army has to play its constitutional and legal role and adopt whatever legal and constitutional methodologies there are. Moreover, there is Article 12-2 of the Constitution which says that Article 6 is to be enforced from March 23, 1956. So enforce the Article from that day. That’s all.
Kamran Khan: What does Musharraf say? He took the decision on his own, or in his capacity as the president or as Army chief. He said in his speech that he enforced emergency in his capacity as the army chief.
Farogh Nasim: He has given me very clear instructions. I took his instructions before I took the case. I asked him if that was his “individual act or whether it was based on other people’s advice and consultation” and he said it with clarity it was the prime minister’s and the cabinet’s advice and he acted on that advice.
Kamran Khan: It means then that Musharraf has told you that the prime minister and the cabinet were responsible and they gave him the advice. The Army has nothing to do with it, isn’t it?
Farogh Nasim: He told me quite clearly: “I was the president of Pakistan on November 3, 2007, and as president, the prime minister and the cabinet gave me the advice, and in the light of the advice from the prime minister and the cabinet, I had no other option under the Constitution other than implementing the advice because the Constitution says that ‘the president has to act upon the advice of the PM’.” So the matter ends here. There is nothing else in the matter. The only complication is that yesterday’s judgment of the Supreme Court for which Musharraf has to take appropriate steps.
At the conclusion, Kamran Khan said Nasim has been clearly saying that Musharraf’s lawyers have made a blunder by saying that it was Gen (R) Musharraf’s act alone. He said differences among Musharraf’s lawyers in this connection are widening. Nevertheless, it is now clear that Pervez Musharraf has never said that the Army should say it was with him in the act of November 3 or whether it was solely his own decision.
Kamran Khan said that it has become clear now that the neither Musharraf nor his lawyer stated so. However, in order to know the exact situation and to know what Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s stand is, we are going to talk to Musharraf’s lawyer Barrister Farogh Nasim.
Kamran Khan: Thank you very much for being on the programme. Please let us know whether the statement that the Army should take responsibility for the November 3 act or that Musharraf should take sole responsibility, is issued by Musharraf or has it been attributed to you?
Farogh Nasim: I think the context has been misunderstood because the media is a bit oversensitive. Maybe some anchors are getting it wrong. However, there is absolutely nothing like that. I was simply shocked to see a mention in yesterday’s judgment that when the court asked Musharraf’s lawyers whether it was Musharraf’s individual act or whether it was on other people’s advice, they said that it was an individual act and it was not based on other people’s advice. It was natural for me to be shocked because the instructions that my client has given me is that “I have acted upon the advice...I took the action on the advice of my prime minister or that of the cabinet...and other people were consulted”. So when I asked Pervez Musharraf, he said it was incorrect so I asked him to kindly ask his lawyers for a clarification, and then we have to take the appropriate steps. It’s just nothing. In fact, I am saying that our Army has to play its constitutional and legal role and adopt whatever legal and constitutional methodologies there are. Moreover, there is Article 12-2 of the Constitution which says that Article 6 is to be enforced from March 23, 1956. So enforce the Article from that day. That’s all.
Kamran Khan: What does Musharraf say? He took the decision on his own, or in his capacity as the president or as Army chief. He said in his speech that he enforced emergency in his capacity as the army chief.
Farogh Nasim: He has given me very clear instructions. I took his instructions before I took the case. I asked him if that was his “individual act or whether it was based on other people’s advice and consultation” and he said it with clarity it was the prime minister’s and the cabinet’s advice and he acted on that advice.
Kamran Khan: It means then that Musharraf has told you that the prime minister and the cabinet were responsible and they gave him the advice. The Army has nothing to do with it, isn’t it?
Farogh Nasim: He told me quite clearly: “I was the president of Pakistan on November 3, 2007, and as president, the prime minister and the cabinet gave me the advice, and in the light of the advice from the prime minister and the cabinet, I had no other option under the Constitution other than implementing the advice because the Constitution says that ‘the president has to act upon the advice of the PM’.” So the matter ends here. There is nothing else in the matter. The only complication is that yesterday’s judgment of the Supreme Court for which Musharraf has to take appropriate steps.
At the conclusion, Kamran Khan said Nasim has been clearly saying that Musharraf’s lawyers have made a blunder by saying that it was Gen (R) Musharraf’s act alone. He said differences among Musharraf’s lawyers in this connection are widening. Nevertheless, it is now clear that Pervez Musharraf has never said that the Army should say it was with him in the act of November 3 or whether it was solely his own decision.
