Interview: Hashmi's arrest shows government is weak - Fahim

Makhdoom Amin Fahim, chairman of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy and chief of the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians group, is among the very few opposition politicians who are in the good books of President Pervez Musharraf.

Yet Fahim has remained steadfast in his loyalty to former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

In an interview with Gulf News, Fahim talks about the arrest of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), leader, Javed Hashmi.

Excerpts:

Gulf News: Did the arrest of Javed Hashmi come as a surprise?
Makhdoom Amin Fahim: We had no indication that he would be arrested. It came as a big surprise for us. Javed Hashmi at a press conference showed a letter, which had no signatures. Nobody knows who wrote this letter, which criticized Musharraf. Hashmi was arrested in an unjustified manner and booked for high treason. It is a very dangerous move.

What do you think are the factors that led to his arrest? Do you think the letters were genuine?
I am in no position to say anything about the letter or what was in the mind of the government when it arrested Hashmi. Yes, he was a loudmouth and highly critical of the government. But these are not good enough reasons to be arrested. The arrest is unjustified because criticising a government, which is resorting to unconstitutional means and undermining Parliament, is no crime. But perhaps the establishment did not like the criticism. It shows that the government is weak and nervous. We are concerned and fear that he will be tortured.

So many other opposition leaders have been highly critical of the government, including yourself, yet Hashmi was singled out.
I think his arrest is just the beginning. The turn of other opposition leaders will also come. The elected government is powerless. The actual source of power lies somewhere else and the elected representatives are kept in the dark.

But you better ask the government why he was singled out. Even his daughter who filed a petition in Rawalpindi High Court today does not know where he has been kept. We asked the (National Assembly) speaker to bring him to parliament. He knows nothing. It is a powerless assembly.

The government has a good track record of tolerating criticism. Why did it lose its patience? They promised a return to democray, but the promise has not been fulfilled. We do not have a genuine democracy. The parliament has completed one year, but it has done nothing in terms of legislation and remains powerless. It is high time democracy returns and the Legal Framework Order (which gives sweeping powers to president) be done away with. The army should perform its own duty and go back to the barracks. We have no conflict with the army. But it should do its own job, that is guarding the country's frontiers.

The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal has been much more critical of Musharraf. Why has it not been targeted?
The MMA has been very harsh in its criticism and has organised big protests. But I cannot say anything against the MMA because it is our ally and is working with us for the supremacy of the parliament. But the government is resorting to double standards in dealing with the MMA and the liberal political parties.

Is the PPP ready to take to the streets on the Hashmi issue? What is the strategy of the ARD?
The PPP, the PML(N) and a lot of other parties are working together on this issue through the platform of the ARD. We initially planned public meetings challenging the LFO and mass contact campaign after Ramadan. But because of Hashmi's arrest, the government has forced us to start early.

ARD failed to mobilise support for its two exiled leaders or Zardari. Hashmi after all is a second line leader.
For Zardari's release we have been holding protests. We will do the same for Hashmi. He is the president of the PML-N and therefore holds deep respect in our hearts.