Washington: It is not good for Pakistan to try its former rulers and this is not how modern nations evolve, a former Pakistan Ambassador to the US has said.
"I think it is not good for Pakistan to be the country that always puts its former leaders on trial," Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistan Ambassador to the US told an audience here at a book launch ceremony.
"Look, we have a sad history. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was put on trial and executed, Gen Zia ul Haq died in an air plane crash, but subsequent to that Benazir Bhutto was elected, moved from office, put on trial, then came back a few years later then again put on trial, forced into exile and now it (Musharraf) is happening," Haqqani said at the Hudson Institute, a think tank where he is a senior fellow.
Haqqani`s remarks came a day after the Pakistan government asked the Supreme Court to launch treason proceedings against former dictator Musharraf for imposing emergency in 2007, the first time the civilian administration has sought the criminal prosecution of a military ruler.
"Of course some people can take some pleasure that this is for the first time that this trial process is happening for a military leader, although Ayub Khan and Yahya Khan also did not remain free men completely after they lost power," he noted.
"This is not how modern nations evolve," Haqqani argued.
"Yes rule of law is important, but it should not become a pattern that is identified with the country. It is not good. He (Musharraf) went back and he put his fate in the hands of the Pakistan judiciary system. I hope he gets justice," the former Pakistani diplomat said.
"I hope you know that General Musharraf was never favorably disposed to my advice when he was in office and since he has been out of office, I am not particularly keen to proffer advice to him either. But I do wish him well as an individual. I hope that he will come out of his problems," Haqqani said when asked what advice he has for Musharraf.
Haqqani was forced to resign after getting embroiled in the `Memogate scandal` in 2011 over charges that he, on behalf of the Pakistan government, sought US help to curb Pakistan Army.
