Re: Zardari confers Hilal-i-Pakistan on Joseph Biden.
By Tahir Hasan Khan
KARACHI: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, while justifying conferring of the Hilal-e-Quaid-i-Azam award on US Vice President-elect Joe Biden, said on Monday the US leader had played a key role in the restoration of democracy in the country.
He accredited Biden for forcing General Pervez Musharraf to doff his uniform. ìIt was not the political parties, but the pressure from the US and Biden that forced Musharraf to remove his uniform,î he claimed, terming the US president-elect a pro-Pakistan.
Gilani was talking to journalists after the launching ceremony of the first small tanker-cum-utility ship, built at the Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (KSEW). He said Pakistanís strategy to drive a wedge between the loyal tribesmen and militants suffered because of the US drone attacks. The PM said his government was successfully following a policy to isolate the militants last year but the drone attacks proved counterproductive.
He dispelled the impression that the US was allowed to carry out drone attacks in the tribal areas. He said he was expecting a change in policy after the new US administration lands in the White House. ìPakistan is a sovereign country and permission for such attacks cannot be given. We are also seeking support of other countries against these attacks,” he said, adding: ìWe are a strong nation and know how to defend our country.”
Gilani said his government had hardly completed eight months in office and miracles should not be expected during this short period as the country was faced with gigantic challenges. About the meeting of his adviser Rehman Malik with Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain in London, the PM said the MQM was an ally of the Pakistan Peopleís Party (PPP), describing the meeting as a routine matter. He claimed the MQM would soon join the federal cabinet.
To a question about the decision of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to join the lawyers’ movement, he said it was an internal matter of the party and the PPP had no objection to it. However, he claimed that his party had rendered more sacrifices for the restoration of judiciary than any other party. ìAfter the imposition of emergency, Benazir Bhutto decided to launch a movement and she led the movement in Lahore. I was also arrested there and was detained at my house, which was declared a sub-jail,” he explained. He termed Zulfikar Ali Bhuttoís execution judicial murder and called for re-opening of his case.
He clarified that the government was not opposed to the local government system and only wanted to make it more effective with the consultation of the coalition partners. The PM also vowed to ensure that Pakistan would become the leading shipbuilding country in the region. Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad, Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Noman Bashir and others were also present on the occasion.
Biden, US pressure forced Musharraf to doff uniform: Gilani
