Musharraf ‘unaware’ of Dr Aafia’s place of detention

Former president Pervez Musharraf said on Saturday that he did not know whether Dr Aafia Siddiqui had been picked up from Pakistan or Afghanistan. He also took a swipe at Nawaz Sharif, saying the former prime minister was mentally ‘bald’.
Swearing that he had never met Dr Aafia in person, the former president said that he did not know whether she was detained in Afghanistan or the circumstances surrounding her arrest in Pakistan. He also claimed he did not know how Aafia was taken to the United States.
Referring to the PML-N chief, he said that Nawaz Sharif had no solution to the Kashmir imbroglio and the joint communiqué issued at the time of the then Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visit to Lahore contained no mention of Kashmir.
Accusing Sharif of duping the people, he said that he (Sharif) became prime minister twice and both times he failed. Now, Musharraf said, he wants to come back to power again and destroy the country utterly.
Addressing a gathering in Birmingham, People, Musharraf said that he wanted to get rid of “empty cartridges”. People, he said, who cannot afford to go beyond traditional politics, were talking against him outside of the legislature.
He said that media was being used to befool the people and he was aware of who was talking nonsense on various TV channels, adding that the time of silence has ended and anyone talking against him would get a “jaw-breaking” response.
Warning people dependent on Nawaz Sharif, Musharraf said that their words lacked wisdom and respect.
Decrying what he called hereditary politics, the former president said time for such politics had passed, and Pakistan is not part of anyone’s personal asset.
Musharraf was accompanied on the occasion by Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain, Sher Afgan Niazi, Barrister Saif, Dr Amjad Chaudhry, Fawwad Chaudhry, Rashid Qureshi and Dr Nasim Ashraf. Two men were dragged out of the venue when they raised slogans.
Meanwhile, a protest demonstration was organised by Hizbul Tahrir in which activists of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf also took part.