US making biggest mistake by backing Mushrraf: Imran

The US is making its biggest mistake by backing Musharraf, Bhutto and Hussain in the present scenario, he said.

The situation (in Pakistan) might turn out to be like Iran for the US where it had backed the Ayatollahs and later it got out of hand, he said.

Commenting on the Indo-Pak relations, Khan said the recent political upheavals in Pakistan have put the Indo-Pak dialogue on Kashmir on the ‘back burner’.

“There is consensus in Pakistan on solving the Kashmir issue through dialogue. But in recent months, attention has been diverted. Kashmir has fallen on the back burner,” he said.

Listing the bloodshed during partition and the Kashmir issue as the causes of problems between India and Pakistan, he said, “Kashmir was a useful tool in the hands of politicians of both sides of the border”.

Asking India to be ‘neutral’ unlike the United States while dealing with the emerging political scenario in Pakistan, he said.

Asserting that Pakistan can never be taken over by fundamentalist elements, he said that voting patterns in the country showed that the religious parties have negligible support.

On Bhutto’s return to Pakistan, Khan said that she has misread the sentiments of the common man, who have become more conscious of their rights since the advent of private television channels.

These private channels have made deep inroads into the common man’s conscious and people have become aware of their rights, he said.

According to Khan, Pakistan faced a tough road ahead in the coming months and anybody associated with Musharraf would be wiped out in the general elections to be held early next year.

“We just hope for a massive turnout in the polls,” he added.

Observing that an independent judiciary was the key to strong democratic institutions, he said, “for Pakistan it is the worst of times and best of times”.

The way ousted Chief Justice Iftikaar Chowdhury was received at various cities, shows that judiciary in Pakistan has come of age, he said. “For the first time judiciary is fighting for its rights”.

“A strong judiciary and Election Commission are essential towards ensuring democracy in the country,” Khan said.

On the current situation in Pakistan, he said that ‘Pakistan has sent troops to its tribal areas on the insistence of the United States’.