Musharraf Imposes Emergency Rule

(courtesy BBC)

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has declared emergency rule and suspended the country's constitution.

He defended his actions in a national address, saying he was curbing a rise in extremism in Pakistan.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry has been replaced and the Supreme Court surrounded by troops, who also entered state-run TV and radio stations.

The moves come as the Supreme Court was due to rule on the legality of Gen Musharraf's October election victory.

The court was to decide whether Gen Musharraf was eligible to run for re-election last month while remaining army chief.

The BBC's Barbara Plett reports from Islamabad that fears had been growing in the government that the Supreme Court ruling could go against Gen Musharraf.

Profile: Pervez Musharraf Reaction in quotes

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who recently returned to the country after years of self-exile to lead her party in planned parliamentary elections, was in Dubai on a personal visit when news of the declaration broke.

However, she immediately flew back to Karachi where she condemned Gen Musharraf's decision.

It is not clear whether the parliamentary elections due in January will go ahead. Gen Musharraf made no mention of them in his speech, but he insisted he wanted to restore democracy.

Suicide warning

Pakistan has been engulfed in political upheaval in recent months, and the security forces have suffered a series of blows from pro-Taleban militants opposed to Gen Musharraf's support for the US-led "war on terror".

In a lengthy televised speech late on Saturday, Mr Musharraf said the situation had forced him into making "some very painful decisions".

In pictures: Emergency rule Declaration: Full text

"I suspect that Pakistan's sovereignty is in danger unless timely action is taken," he said.

He insisted his decisions were made for the benefit of Pakistan.

"Extremists are roaming around freely in the country, and they are not scared of law-enforcement agencies," the president said.

As well as defending emergency rule to the Pakistani people, Gen Musharraf also appealed directly to his Western allies for patience.

"Kindly understand the criticality of the situation in Pakistan and around Pakistan. Pakistan is on the verge of destabilisation," he said.

"Inaction at this moment is suicide for Pakistan and I cannot allow this country to commit suicide."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the declaration of emergency rule was "highly regrettable" and called upon Pakistan to have free and fair elections.

UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband also expressed concern, saying it was vital Pakistan's government "abides by the commitment to hold free and fair elections on schedule".

New chief justice

Gen Musharraf's address echoed the text of the declaration of emergency rule, which opens with a reference to the "grave threat" posed by the "visible ascendancy in the activities of extremists and incidents of terrorist attacks".

Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan in response to the news

It ends by saying that the constitution is in "abeyance" - which, according to our correspondent, in effect means that martial law has been imposed, although there is not a heavy security presence on the streets.

The political and judicial core of Islamabad has been shut down, but the rest of the city is functioning normally, our correspondent says.

She says it is clear from reading the emergency proclamation the main target is the judiciary which is accused of interfering in government policy and weakening the struggle against terrorism.

Chief Justice Chaudhry and eight other judges refused to endorse the emergency order, declaring it unconstitutional, resulting in Mr Chaudhry's dismissal.

A new chief justice has been appointed, officials say. He is Supreme Court judge Abdul Hameed Dogar, a supporter of Gen Musharraf who was a member of the special tribunal appointed to investigate allegations of wrongdoing by Mr Chaudhry.

Ms Bhutto's return from self-imposed exile last month came about with the co-operation of Gen Musharraf.

Our correspondent says that in the changed circumstances she will have to decide whether she is returning to lead the opposition against the president, or should wait on the sidelines in the hopes of securing an agreement with him.

Very Confidential Indeed...

When they had started... to be honest i was very happy... Finally a group of people who looked as if they are going to bring a change. Campus Confidential (CC), Sissy eh? said one of my friends when he first read the name, we both hoped not, and walked away.

Confidentiality.. till the last time i saw the dictionary meant something secret, restricted from the whole wide world or at least a bit private.. see the basic idea this word gave me was umm.. a sense of communication between the students which the administration could not interfere or look into so easily. By no means i mean that they should not be allowed to keep a check on us but... please publishing your first ever so Confidential issue on a soft board... that was just a slap on the face of the hopes of the students

My question... who was the person who couldn't read the *magazine* which was supposed to be just for the students, apart from the domestics who can not read the language which it was in, I was just thinking about it... tomorrow morning ill tell Miss Shireen to close her eyes whenever she passes the board... that might help... orrrr... umm yeh a sign board.. which says "do not read it if you are not a student.." :P

I was very disappointed from that and someone very rightly said "Oh its just another soft board"
But there was another thing that the CC team did which was, ethically, very wrong.
When you start publishing things like these the first thing you see is if your contents are original or not and the next thing you do is to seek permission of publishing anything that is not yours
going through Facebook and picking up pictures from profiles are just not a very nice things to do... don't you think.. When we were about to start the comic, we asked the owner of these very pictures and were rejected but the CC girls very politely copied them and kept the owner unaware of the fact ( a pleasant surprise perhaps?).


This is not to look down upon anything... it was just my point of view and was pretty much on the face. I wish best of luck to The Campus Confidential team (which it needs quiet badly :P)
To sum it up.. we think they should be true to the name of their magazine.. and keep it a bit more confidential because this seriously was not confidential at all and this is a personal request to the Campus Confidential team from the owner of the pictures they published...well she is very nice and would just tell them not to do it again


We don't hate you.. you just were not confidential at all..

Team,
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