Governor Ibad defends Musharraf’s policies

KARACHI: Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad Khan defended the policies of President Musharraf while addressing a literary programme at a local hotel.

He said President Musharraf made 15 ‘mistakes’. The first ‘mistake’ was that he prevented the destruction of the plane that was in air on Oct 12, 1999, and thus saved the lives of 200 people, including children. The second ‘mistake’ was that President Musharraf saved the country when the global scenario changed after 9/11. He did not allow the spread of the extremism in the country. He did not allow the Talibanization of Karachi.

The third ‘mistake’ was that he increased the forex deposits of the country. The fourth ‘mistake’ was that he did not impose martial law. The fifth was that he held free and fair elections in 2002. The sixth ‘mistake’ was giving the country a local government system. The seventh was shaking hands with the Indian prime minister at the SAARC conference.

The eighth ‘mistake’ was that he did not give any CM post to his son or other relatives. Giving freedom to the media was another ‘mistake’. Another one was disallowing seminaries such as the Lal Masjid and turning them into his vote bank. The eleventh ‘mistake’ was that he doffed the army uniform and the twelfth was introducing national reconciliation.

Khan said holding free and fare elections, the empowerment of democratic institutions and tolerating criticism were other ‘mistakes’ Musharraf made. Khan regretted that today the reconciliation process was being converted into confrontation to create political uncertainty in the country. He said, resultantly, the economy was being affected, capital was being shifted to other countries and the stock markets were nose-diving.