Islamabad, Aug 14: As Pakistan celebrated its Independence day today, former Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto flayed the country's military for "repeated attempts" to destroy democracy and expressed their determination to work for restoration of constitutional rule.
"No general of the Army had contributed to Pakistan's creation," Sharif, who lives in exile in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, along with his family, said in a message.
Sharif, who was overthrown in a coup by President Gen Pervez Musharraf, said that it was in "the dark periods of dictatorship" that Pakistan was dismembered.
"Siachen was lost to India and the people of Afghanistan and Kashmir were alienated when the military was in power," he said.
Sharif said Pakistan's founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, wanted the country's representatives to be sovereign and self-sufficient, but the undemocratic elements "imbued with colonial traditions" never let the nation follow his wishes.

Another former Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Benazir Bhutto, said a "few un-elected individuals" had taken it upon themselves to rewrite the Constitution disregarding the powers of the Parliament and sought to impose perpetual military rules in the name of "sustainable democracy".

"The PPP and the Democratic Opposition has rejected this perverted logic to impose a new constitution and will continue to oppose and reject it," she said in a press release here. Bhutto is presently in Britain.
Bureau Report