'Musharaf Has To Be Taken Out Of The Equation'

The situation in the country is uncertain. There is astrong crackdown onthe press and lawyers. Majority of the judges of theSupreme Court and fourHigh Courts have not taken oath. The Chief Justice isunder house arrest(unofficially) . The President of the Supreme CourtBar Aitzaz Ahsan and two former presidents -- Mr. Muneer Malik and Tariq Mahmood-- have been imprisonedfor one month under the Preventive Detention laws. ThePresident of theLahore High Court Mr Ahsan Bhoon and former barleader Mr. Ali Ahmed Kurdhave also been arrested. 

The police is looking or six other lawyers, includingPresident of Peshawar and Karachi bar. The Presidentof Lahore bar is alsoin hiding.There are other scores political leaders who have alsobeen arrested. Yesterday I was house arrested for 90 days. 

Ironically the President (who has lost his marbles)said that he had toclamp down on the press and the judiciary to curbterrorism. Those he hasarrested are progressive, secular minded people; whilethe terrorists are offered negotiations and ceasefires.

Lawyers and civil society will challenge thegovernment and the scene islikely to get uglier. We want friends of Pakistan tourge the USadministration to stop all support of the instabledictator, as his lust forpower is bringing the country close to a worse form ofcivil strife. It isnot time for the international community to insist onpreventive measures,otherwise cleaning up the mess may take decades. Thereare already severalhundred IDPs and the space for civil society hashopelessly shrunk.

We believe that Musharaf has to be taken out of theequation and agovernment of national reconciliation put in place. Itmust be backed by themilitary. Short of this there are no realisticsolutions, although there areno guarantees that this may work.