The Hindu : I was sacked by Musharraf: Tarar

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 26, 2002

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International

I was sacked by Musharraf: Tarar

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD April 25 . In a revelation that could prove to be embarrassing to the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, particularly when the Supreme Court is hearing a number of petitions challenging his assumption of office of President and before the April 30 referendum, the former President, Rafiq Tarar, has asserted that he was sacked by Gen. Musharraf when he refused to resign.

In an interview to The Nation, Mr. Tarar claimed that he was forced to break his silence about the circumstances under which he had to vacate the Aiwan-e-Sadar (Presidential palace) in view of some of the observations attributed to the nine-member bench of the Supreme Court during the hearings in the referendum case.

The local media has quoted some of the judges as telling the lawyers that they were not sure if Mr. Tarar wanted to continue as President after the October 1999 coup and whether he had been unwilling to leave office when Gen. Musharraf took over as President on June 20, 1999.

Mr. Tarar said that it was wrong to say he had never recorded his protest after his removal. ``I spoke it in very clear words and recorded my resentment to Gen. Musharraf and his generals when they had a meeting with me and demanded my resignation. In that meeting I refused to resign.''

He said ``under Article 243-1A of the Constitution, I was the Supreme Commander of the armed forces but the CE/COAS (Chief Executive/Chief of Armed Services) removed me through a PCO (Provisional Constitutional Order) on June 20, 2001. And on the same evening the then Chief Justice of Pakistan administered oath to General Pervez Musharraf as President of Pakistan''.

Mr. Tarar said all the judges of the Supreme Court available in Islamabad on that day not only participated in the oath-taking ceremony but also congratulated Gen. Musharraf on assuming office. ``In such circumstances, from whom could I seek justice'' Mr. Tarar asked.

He claimed that after the coup he chose to remain in office when Gen. Musharraf requested him to do so for the sake of the solidarity of the federation. ``After leaving the President House, I always avoided to comment on the issue of my removal from the office of President of Pakistan. By nature, I dislike self-projection through media and for this reason, I never issued any statement. A few days ago, a former judge of the Supreme Court, through a press statement, tried to provoke me but I did not take notice of it.''

He quoted an observation of the apex court, published in an Urdu daily, that said, ``Rafiq Tarar had become part of the new system on the very first day and that he did not show any resentment over his removal from the office of President'. Mr. Tarar described the observations as `totally false and incorrect'.

He said that Gen. Musharraf in his address to the nation on October 17,1999, had said ``The President (Mr. Tarar) has very kindly agreed to continue on my (Gen. Musharraf's) request''.

Mr. Tarar said that in the newspapers of October 18,1999, it was reported that the Chief Executive, after the address, went to have a meeting with the President to brief him about the state affairs.

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