New Delhi: Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has accused the military establishment of ruining the country’s economy and democracy, while lauding India’s achievements in space and development. Sharif, who is eyeing a record fourth term as prime minister, said that Pakistan’s miseries were not caused by India, the US or Afghanistan, but by its own actions. "Our neighbours have reached the moon, we haven't even stood up on the ground so far" says Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif lauding India's rise while pointing to his country's economic crisis.


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“We shot ourselves in our own foot…they (a reference to the military) rigged the 2018 polls and imposed a selected (government) on this nation that led to the sufferings of the people and downfall of the economy,” Sharif said during a conversation with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) ticket aspirants here.


He also criticised the judges for supporting the military dictators and ousting him from power three times in 1993, 1999 and 2017. “The judges garland them (military dictators) and legitimise their rule when they break the Constitution. When it comes to a prime minister the judges stamp his ouster. The judges also approve the act of dissolution of the parliament…why?” he asked.


Sharif, who returned from a four-year-long self-imposed exile in London in October, is the only Pakistani politician who became the prime minister of the coup-prone country for a record three times. He said that he was declared a hijacker in 1999 and removed from power in 2017 for not taking salary from his son.


“They (military establishment) made this decision as they wanted to bring their selected man into power,” he said, referring to his arch-rival Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supremo Imran Khan. Sharif also blamed the military establishment of 2014-17 for coercing the senior judges to remove him from power.


“They (a reference to the military establishment) visited the residences of senior judges and threatened them. They achieved the required court verdicts against me through coercion,” he said. Sharif has been acquitted in three corruption cases in the last week. He was sentenced to ten years in jail in July 2018 in the Avenfield graft case.


Sharif contrasted Pakistan’s situation with India’s progress, saying that “our neighbours have reached the moon, we haven’t even stood up on the ground so far”. He praised India’s rise in space and development, saying that Pakistan should learn from its neighbour.