ISLAMABAD: The Senate passed a unanimous resolution on Monday asking the government to arrest former military ruler Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf on his return from abroad and try him for committing treason.

Senator Mian Raza Rabbani moved the resolution towards the end of Monday’s proceedings on behalf of seven other senators.

Other movers were: Raja Zafarul Haq (PML-N), Prof Khurshid Ahmad (Jamaat-i-Islami), Dr Khalid Somroo (JUI-F), Abdul Rahim Khan Mandokhel (Pakhtun Khawa Milli Awami Party), Humayun Khan Mandokhel (Independent), Afrasiab Khattak (ANP) and Dr Abdul Malik Baloch (National Party).

The PML-Q and MQM chose not to get their names included in the list of movers.

The resolution was virtually a charge-sheet against the former military ruler who had announced his return to Pakistan by the end this month.

The Senate, through the resolution, said that Gen Musharraf held the Constitution in abeyance twice and brought the judiciary into disrepute.

It said that Gen Musharraf removed, ridiculed and arrested judges of the superior judiciary.

The resolution also stated that the former president aided, and was allegedly an accomplice, in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and Nawab Akbar Bugti.

The senators said the former army chief had committed acts of criminal nature against the people of Pakistan and that his policies and the use of state force in Balochistan had led to loss of innocent lives and “sponsored disappearance” of people.

The resolution said that Gen Musharraf compromised vital national security interests through clandestine deals and unwritten agreements with foreign governments.

Economic policies pursued by the former army general widened disparity between the rich and the poor, created monopolies, promoted cartels and gave rise to crony capitalism, the resolution noted.

It accused Gen Musharraf of destroying the federal structure, reducing the share of provinces in the NFC Award and giving rise to horizontal and vertical polarisation.

Earlier, the house suspended its routine business and allowed Mr Rabbani to move the resolution.

Members of the house spoke against Gen Pervez Musharraf and voiced concern over his reported attempts to secure help from the US to ensure that his name was not put on the Exit Control List when he arrived in Pakistan.

They also asked the federal government to register a treason case against the former army chief under Article 6 of the Constitution.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik had agreed to register the case, but said that the PML-N, being a party directly aggrieved by the general, should file a complaint on the basis of which the government was ready to register a case.

He had also suggested that the house should pass a resolution seeking registration of a case against Gen Musharraf.