ISLAMABAD, April 24: Former Prime Minister and Quaid of Pakistan Muslim League Mohammad Nawaz Sharif has accused President General Pervez Musharraf of pushing the country towards anarchy and civil war.

In a statement, he said Musharraf wanted to turn the roads of Islamabad into a battle-field like Balochistan and the tribal areas. He said his party condemned the killing of own people in Balochistan and tribal areas.

Referring to the ongoing judicial crisis, he said the struggle for independence of judiciary had become a national movement now. He said it was defining moment for Pakistan as its future depended on the success of this movement.

He congratulated lawyers, political activists, civil society representatives and the general public for demonstrating solidarity for independence of judiciary, rule of law and restoration of democracy. He said despite scorching heat and negative tactics employed by the government, the people succeeded in gathering in large number outside the Supreme Court building on the occasion of the hearing of presidential reference against Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

He said Pakistan’s future is linked with real democracy and supremacy of the constitution and not with military dictatorship. He said a handful of Generals could not make millions of people hostage.

He said the sovereignty of the country was at stake as a result of the flawed policies pursued by General Musharraf during his eight years in power. He said major decisions were being taken to prolong the rule of a single individual.

Nawaz Sharif said an elected government was ousted from power by Musharraf with a pledge to stamp out corruption. He said the people of the country were witness to the fact that the present government had set new records of corruption, with a number of mega corruption scams coming to limelight.

He alleged that corrupt political elements had been imposed on the people of Pakistan. He said the people of the country had a right to ask the military rulers to tell what did they give to the country by murdering democracy and the constitution.

He said after the judiciary, the government has also attacked media. He said the show-cause notice issued to Aaj TV was a clear proof of the fact that the government could not tolerate dissent and chants hollow slogans about press freedom.