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Nawaz deportation raises duststorm in Pakistan

Muhammad Zain - 9/12/2007

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was deported to Saudi Arabia by a special plane, but the take-off left a long trail of black clouds over the situation of rule of law and Pakistan's future as a democratic country.

As Nawaz was being bundled into a Saudi Arabia-bound plane in Islamabad, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, a coalition partner in the federal and Sindh governments, stormed the Sindh High Court in the port city and economic powerhouse of the country, Karachi, forcing the court to suspend the hearing of the May 12 incident in which over 50 people, mostly belonging to the opposition, had been killed, allegedly by MQM workers, when they were staging a rally to receive Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. The two incidents indicate the government has decided to take the judiciary head-on and stifle its activism through defiance.

As far as his return, Nawaz has achieved his objective of reviving his party. If he had not returned to Pakistan after the Supreme Court verdict, his Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) would have slipped into history's dustbin. At a time when Benazir Bhutto and the government were finalizing a power-sharing deal, Nawaz smelled an opportunity to enter into Pakistan and take part in politics, as he was enjoying popularity for his unwavering stand against military rule, especially after Benazir initiated talks with General Pervez Musharraf, which were even opposed by her party men.

In a clever move, Nawaz had left behind younger brother Shahbaz Sharif to moblise the party if he was arrested or deported. However, it was the best option for the government to deport him as his arrest would have aroused public sympathy and could have disrupted the PPP-government deal in a few months. It would also have raised his stature as a politician and true opposition leader, which was not affordable to the government.

Before his arrival, thousands of his party workers had been arrested to stop them from receiving him at the airport. All top leaders of the newly set up All Pakistan Democratic Movement (APDM) were also arrested, paving the way for an easy bundling of Nawaz into a Jeddah-bound plane. However, his party and the APDM had not evolved an effective strategy to receive him and protest against his deportation.

Clashes also erupted between the police and supporters of Nawaz in and around the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The police fired teargas shells and baton-charged to disperse over 200 protesters who tried to reach the airport. Former Pakistan President Rafiq Tarar and PML-N spokesman Ahsan Iqbal were among top opposition leaders arrested after they led a procession to the Islamabad airport. Iqbal was also beaten up by the police. PML-N Chairman Raza Zafarul Haq and President Javed Hashmi had already been detained ahead of his arrival.

Law experts term his forced exile abduction, detention and in violation of the constitution and the Supreme Court verdict. However, the PML-N has filed a contempt case in the court and it will decide the matter in due course whether the government has violated its order or not. However, for the first time in Pakistan's history, people and political leaders have started openly crticising Saudi Arabia for its interference in Pakistan's politics.

The US also earned the ire of the people when it urged Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto to honour 'terms of law.' The statement by the US State Department could not have been more ill-timed and hollow when it asked the former prime ministers to honour the terms of Pakistani law and constitutional process when they return to the country. If it had any regard for public sentiment and democracy in Pakistan, it would have asked the military government to allow him entry, according the spirit of the constitution and the Supreme Court verdict.

In fact, the US has always welcomed military governments in Pakistan to further its short-term interests in the region, though bringing suffering to itself in the long-term and also pushing Pakistan and the world into deep trouble. Al-Qaeda and the Taliban are the fallout of its official Jihad policy in Pakistan to fight Soviet forces in Afghanistan during the General Ziaul Haq era.

The US suggestion to Nawaz was aimed at protecting its own interests rather than the wellbeing of Pakistan and its people, as it had apprehensions that the unexpected return of Nawaz could further weaken President General Pervez Musharraf and offset his power-sharing deal with Benazir Bhutto, being prodded by the US to strengthen its efforts for eliminating terrorism through its so-called war on terror. However, the EU appeal to the Pakistan government to let Mr Sharif return from exile was welcomed by political leaders and workers in Pakistan.

Before leaving London, Nawaz left his brother Shahbaz Sharif to remain in Britain, so that he could lead the party in case he was arrested or deported. If left to him, Nawaz would have preferred jail in Pakistan than living in a palace in Saudi Arabia. He could meet his party men and issue statements from a Pakistani jail, which is not possible during his stay in Saudi Arabia.

However, he has achieved the objective of his return. He has energised the opposition and put the judiciary to the test to ensure rights to people. It is yet to be seen whether the judiciary will act as promptly as it did in the case of the suspension of the chief justice, which was the issue of its own prestige.

The prime objective of Nawaz Sharif's return was to give an impetus to opposition's movement and break the myth about "democracy taking roots in Pakistan," the rule of law and "enlightened moderation," created by the military government. His forced deportation indicates that there is still a one-man rule in Pakistan, with the government on a collision course with the judiciary.

The way Nawaz was maltreated and bundled into a plane also sent a message to Benazir Bhutto that how much respect a former prime minister is accorded in Pakistan by the military government, which is not willing even to allow a popular leader to live in his country of birth, which is his inalienable right, also upheld by the apex court.

Nawaz has been deported to serve another three years and three months in exile in Saudi Arabia, but the question is whether those who have forced him to leave the country would survive the period?