Islamabad, Sep 02: Comparing President Pervez Musharraf with the viceroy during the British raj, a veteran Pakistani Opposition leader warned that the country headed for "anarchy and complete destruction" under the military ruler. "The status of Musharraf at present is no different from that of the viceroy during the raj. Though all orders were passed by him and were binding, the people of the sub-continent never accepted them as legitimate," Nawazada Nasurullah Khan, chief of the 15-party Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), said.

"We did not accept Musharraf as president even when he met us. We had held talks with him to persuade him to vacate the occupation of the country," Khan said in an interview to local daily 'The Dawn' today. The alliance parties of the ARD included, Pakistan Peoples Party, (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-N, (PML-N) headed by former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif respectively.

Ninety-year-old Khan, regarded for his staunch opposition to military rule, said Musharraf's reluctance to give up power heralded a serious political crisis.

"I think we are heading towards anarchy, complete destruction. The future of the democratic system is bleak. The man who calls himself president. This is no way to run the system. If such dictatorial methods are not resisted, and democratic norms and values are allowed to be trampled, we are doomed," he said. He also likened the ARD struggle to the freedom struggle against the British rule.

Bureau Report