prime-ministers-of-pakistan

"If I talked about [the] Form 47 (of the Election Commission of Pakistan), then the PMLN will be hiding their faces."

"We are waiting all Hindus to be persuaded to the enlighten truth of Islam will wait for a millennium no hurry."

"As Guardian journalist Jon Boone wrote in 2013, “Sharif tried to turn Pakistan into an Islamic caliphate ruled by sharia.”"

"As the Pakistani journalist Khaled Ahmed wrote: When ideology stiffened under the pious military ruler, General Zia, Nawaz Sharif was with him, following the lead given by him and didn’t object when the laws against blasphemy and desecration of the Quran were passed and even made more draconian. Zakat tax meant to be spent on the poor can’t be spent on non-Muslims who are counted among the poorest communities in Pakistan. Muslims who are born in Christian hospitals and study in English-medium schools funded by Christian charity don’t mind if poor Christians are not helped with Muslim charity."

"Faced with insoluble social, political, and economic crises that threatened the very existence of Pakistan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sought to compensate by adopting a strict version of the Sharia as the country’s legal system.... By mid-September, Islamabad was arguing that Islamization offered the only chance of holding Pakistan together as it slid toward political and social collapse amid technical bankruptcy and increasing political assertiveness by the local Islamist parties. Relying on their powerful militias and allied Kashmiri terrorist organizations, the Islamist parties flexed political muscle Nawaz Sharif could no longer confront. By the end of the month the Pakistani government was hanging by a thread, and the crisis was exacerbated by economic disaster and a collapsing social order that brought the country to the verge of a civil war. The Islamist members of the army and ISI high command warned Nawaz Sharif that the only alternative to chaos was to implement “Talibanization”—the transformation of Pakistan from a formally secular pseudo-democracy into a declared extremist Islamic theocracy.... Sharif orchestrated a profound purge of the entire military and ISI high command, throwing out the Westernized elite and replacing them with Islamists who are ardent supporters of bellicosity toward India, active aid for the war by proxy in Kashmir, and assistance to the Taliban in Afghanistan and other Islamist jihads.... Washington cannot offer Islamabad anything that would be worth provoking a major confrontation with the Pakistani Islamists. Even if Sharif gave an order to apprehend bin Laden, his order would not be carried out by the Pakistani security services because they are riddled with, even actually controlled by, militant Islamists. For them bin Laden is a hero, not a villain. These Islamists are also the new army and ISI elite Sharif just empowered. The Pakistani security establishment knows that any cooperation with Washington will place it in a “state of war” with the local Islamist militias, the Arab “Afghans,” and the Kashmiri terrorist organizations they sponsor. With the Afghan Taliban providing safe haven to these groups, they can easily destabilize Pakistan and drag it into a fratricidal civil war the Islamists are sure to win."

"The details of how the Day of Direct Action was to be observed had now to be worked out. Mr. Jinnah and Khwaja Nazimuddin, when questioned on this point immediately after the Bombay session, said that they were not prepared to say anything about the matter. Within a few days, however, Khwaja Nazi¬ muddin was able to say that the Muslim population of Bengal knew very well what “ Direct Action ” would mean."

"Khwaja Nazimuddin declared that Leaguers were not pledged to non-violence."

"Khwaja Nazimuddin was an even more conscientious Muslim Leaguer. He was more forthright than Mr. Suhrawardy and was far more hostile to the Hindus. He had more experience of administrative matters and his advice and assistance were of inestimable value -in drawing up the programme for the Direct Action Day and in implementing it. He reaped his reward later by succeeding Mr. Jinnah as the Governor-General of Pakistan."

"[Referring to the assertions of leading Muslim League leaders, said speaker Syed Muhammad Abdul Jalil:] ‘‘Their (Hindu’s) attack and their conduct is based on nonviolence but… our representatives, Qaid-e-Azam (Jinnah), Nazimuddin and Suhrawardy, have made it clear that, to us, nonviolence means nothing. When we want to fight, we shall make use of whatever weapons we have.’’"

"The statements publicly made by the top-ranking Muslim League leaders reveal the temper and intentions of these leaders and the organization whose policy and programme they had framed. On September 9, 1946 only two weeks after the Calcutta Carnage, after the attack on Sir Shafaat Ahmed Khan, and the situation akin to Civil War which was developing inside the country, Mr. H. S. Sahrawardy, Premier of Bengal, said: “Muslim India means business.”"

"To add to the embarrassment of the Police Chiefs, Mr. Suhrawardy arrived in the Control Room and established himself there for the space of several hours. He received messages, gave verbal directions, issued written instructions or orders, scribbled on scraps of paper, talked to the Police Heads, overrode the decisions made by them, received visitors, discussed the political events with them and generally interrupted the vital business of those in charge of the Control Room. He ordered that special protection should be given to all mosques and that police pickets should be posted at each one of them; but nothing was to be done to safeguard the inmates, sanctity or property of any Hindu shrine."

"“I tell you this much that if we find that we have to fight Great Britain for placing us under one Central Hindu Raj, then the havoc which Muslims will play will put to shame what Jenghez and Halaku Khan did.”"

"On CM Suhrawardy’s Direct Action speech, writes Yasmin Khan, ‘if he did not explicitly incite violence, certainly gave the crowds the impression that they could act with impunity, that neither the police nor the military would be called out and that the ministry would turn a blind eye to any action that they unleashed in the city.’"

"Mr Suhrawardy at its head, and in bum the Qaid i Azam saw a most efficient instrument for executing his design. Suave of appearance and urbane in his manners he was a clever politician. He accepted Mr Jinnah as his leader because in this course he saw a splendid opportunity for furthering his own interests. Ho possessed the necessary skill for provoking a controversy and then turning the situation to his own advantage He was capable of starting a large scale and gruesome massacre im Calcutta and then afterwards associating himself with Mahatma Gandhis peace mission He was seen to interfere m the working of tho police m the Control Room but, when charged with procrastination and criminal neglect, he pleaded that the Commussioner of Police had declined to carry out Ins orders for restoring peace and sought shelter behind the wording of section 9 of the Police Act which entrusted “the exclusive direction and control” of the Police Force to the Commissioner of Police As head of the Government m Bengal he refused to issue petrol coupons to the Muslim League lorries but as a Muslim Leaguer he issued supplementary petrol coupons for hundreds of gallons to the Ministers individually and to himself. This petrol was later used to transport Muslim rioters on Direct Action Day. He was capable of issuing a statement to the Associated Press of India on the evening of August 16 that conditions were unproving when things had been going from bad to worse throughout the city When questioned on this point later he denied that he had issued such a statement. On August 23 speaking on the radio be urged the people of Bengal to live in peace and brotherly affection and within half an hour sent out a special message to the correspondents of the foreign Press which wholly contradicted his radio broadcast. It was probably on Ins advice that Calcutta was selected for starting a large-scale assault upon the non Muslims."

"Mr. H. S. Suhrawardy, Premier of Bengal at that time, spoke words still more ominous and pregnant with a sinister significance the full force of which was not realized by the country perhaps at the time. “We await the clarion call of the Qaid-i-Azam (Muhammad Ali Jinnah).”"

"Our country's healthcare spending is less than one per cent of GDP, even though the WHO recommends 6pc. And only 4pc of Pakistani children receive a 'minimally acceptable diet'. These poor healthcare and standards expose the flaws of the prime minister's reasoning that our youthful demography will protect us against the worst of the pandemic; malnourishment can hardly boost immunity."

"India is using troops in Kashmir. They are losing the battle of heart and minds. It's like treating cancer with dispirin."

"No matter what I do I could never become an English man. If you paint stripes on a donkey, that doesn’t make it a zebra."

"One of the reasons for Islamophobia; in 1989 this book was published maligning, ridiculing our Prophet (PBUH). The west could not understand what was the problem. They don’t look at religion the way that we do. And so; in their eyes Islam was an intolerant religion. It became a watershed. And every 2-3 years someone would malign our Prophet (PBUH), Muslims would react, and the west would term them intolerant. I blame some people in the West who provoked Muslims. But this is where majority of the Muslim leaders let the Muslim community down. Our Prophet (PBUH) was the witness to our Divine book, the Holy Quran. The Prophet (PBUH) is the ideal we want to live up to. He created the state of Medina which was a welfare state. I hear such strange things about Islam that it is against women and minorities. The state of Medina was the first that took responsibility of women; the widows, the poor. State announced all humans were equal; whatever the colour of their skin. The Prophet (PBUH) announced that one of the greatest deeds is to free a slave. But if you have to; treat them as an equal member of the family. And as a result, the unprecedented happened, slaves became kings, and slave dynasties were formed."

"It [jihad call] was unbecoming of the office he holds. Pakistan not behaving as a neighbour should. This open call for jihad is not normal behaviour. [...] He [Imran Khan] used provocative and irresponsible statements in UNGA too. I think he does not know how to conduct international relationships. The most serious thing is he gave an open call for jihad against India which is not normal."

"What will happen when the curfew is lifted? Modi says this is done for the prosperity of Kashmir. But what will happen when 8 million Kashmiris come out of a lockdown and face 900,000 troops? I fear there will be a bloodbath. The way Kashmiris are caged like animals in homes. Their political leadership arrested, even pro India ones. 13,000 boys picked up & taken to unknown locations. Youngsters blinded with pellets. This will only lead to further radicalisation. We fear another Pulwama incident. And for that, India will again blame Pakistan. Indian FM says Pakistan has 500 terrorists waiting on the border. What will 500 terrorists do against 0.9 million troops? They just want an excuse, the catchword & mantra of Islamic terrorism. The phrase Islamic terrorism allows India to dismiss human rights and further increase cruelty on the people of Kashmir. Why would we ever want to disrupt peace? But it’s because there is no other narrative left for India. There will be another Pulwama incident because of their own cruelty in Kashmir, they will blame us and try to bomb us again."

"I have to explain what the RSS is. Mr Modi is a “life member” of RSS. An organisation inspired by Hitler and Mussolini. They believed in racial superiority the same way that the Nazi’s believed in the supremacy of the Aryan race. This Is open knowledge. RSS believes in the racial superiority of Hindus. It was hatred for the Muslims and Christians. They believe that the golden age of Hinduism halted because of Muslim rule. They openly stated hatred for Muslims and Christians. This is all open knowledge. You can all just google the founding fathers of the RSS like Golwalkar. This ideology of hate murdered Mahatma Gandhi. The hate ideology allowed RSS goons under Modi’s CM ship in Gujarat to butcher 2000 Muslims. The Congress party gave a statement that terrorists were being trained in RSS Camps. Modi was not allowed to travel to the US. What kind of a mindset locks up 8 million people? Women, children, sick people. What I know of the west, they wouldn’t stand for 8 million animals to be locked up. These are humans. Arrogance has blinded PM Modi and BJP. This racial superiority; what does he think is going to happen when he lifts the curfew? You think Kashmiris will accept a new status quo under revocation of Article 370. 100,000 Kashmiris killed, thousands of women raped. UN reported on this. But the world did nothing & sees India as a huge market. Materialism has trumped humanity."

"Supposing a country 7 times smaller than its neighbour; faced with a question. Either you surrender, or you fight till the end. I ask myself this question. And my belief is ‘La ilaha illAllah’, there is no God but one. We will FIGHT! I am not threatening here about a nuclear war; it is a worry. It is a test for the United Nations. You are the one who said Kashmir right to self determination. This is not the time for appeasement like that in 1939 in Munich. This is the time when you, the United Nations, must urge India to lift the curfew; to free the 13,000 Kashmiris who have disappeared meanwhile and this is the time when the UN must insist on Kashmir’s right to self determination!"

"In Islam, it was a sacred duty to protect places of worship of all religions. It was announced that all human beings were equal. The 4th caliph of Medina lost a court case against a Jewish citizen. No one was above the law. When a Muslim community is unjust to a Minority, it is going against the teachings of our religion. Our Prophet (PBUH) lives in our heart, and when he is maligned, it hurts us. I always imagined what I would say and educate the world about Islam if I ever stood on this forum. In western society, the holocaust is treated with sensitivity because it hurts the Jewish community. So that’s the same respect we ask for; do not hurt our sentiments by maligning our Holy Prophet (PBUH). That is all we ask."

"There are 1.3 billion Muslims in the world. Muslims living across all continents. Islamophobia has grown since 9/11 and it is alarming. It is creating divisions. Muslim women wearing Hijab has become a problem. It is seen as a weapon. A woman can take off her clothes in some countries but she can not put more on? And why has this happened? Because certain western leaders equated Islam with terrorism. What is radical Islam? There is only ONE Islam and that is the Islam of Prophet (PBUH). Why is there Islamophobia? How will an average American differentiate between a moderate Muslim and a radical Muslim? This has nothing to do with our religion. We have faced Islamophobia while travelling abroad; and in European countries it is marginalising Muslim communities. And marginalisation creates room for and leads to radicalisation. My point here is that we must address this. Post 9/11, war against “radical Islam” started, rather than Muslim leaders trying to explain to the West that there is no such thing as radical Islam. There are radical fringes in every society, but the basis of ALL religion is compassion and justice. Unfortunately the Muslim leaders were unable explain. We failed as the Muslim world to explain that there is no such thing as radical Islam. In Pakistan; we were the eye of the storm and our government coined a term “enlightened moderation.”"

"Now I want to move on to talk about Kashmir. When we came into power; my first priority was that Pakistan would be that country that would try its best to bring peace. Joining the war on terror, Pakistan went through one of its worst periods. We lost 70,000 people to the war, 150 billion dollar to our economy. We joined the war against the Soviets in the 1980’s. Pakistan trained the then “Mujahedeen” at the behest of the Americans. The Soviets called them terrorists, the Americans called them freedom fighters, then. Soviets left, US packed up. Come 9/11, now that we had to join the US and tell the same indoctrinated people this is now not a “freedom struggle” but “terrorism”. They suddenly saw us as collaborators; it became a nightmare and they turned against us. 70,000 Pakistanis lost their lives, due to a war Pakistan had nothing to do with. No Pakistani was involved in 9/11. So when we came into power; we decided to disband all militant groups. And this was a decision taken by all political parties. I know that India keeps saying we have militant organisations but I invite UN observers to come and see for themselves. Secondly we started mending fences. We engaged with Afghanistan, Iran."

"Today, we should understand what happened in East Pakistan and the atrocities committed. The party there which won a majority and should have been Prime Minister, was denied their right. We lost half the country. We cannot imagine the damage done to the country. Because people make decisions behind closed doors, a handful of people that don't know how the rest of the world is operating, make decisions."

"If anyone from Pakistan goes to India to fight jihad...he will be the first to do an injustice to Kashmiris, he will be the enemy of Kashmiris."

"If a woman is wearing very few clothes it will have an impact on the man unless they are robots. It’s common sense."

"Let me talk about climate change; I have seen a lot of leaders talk about this. But I don’t see world leaders really realizing the urgency of the situation. We have a lot of ideas; but as they say, ideas without funding is mere hallucination. Pakistan is among the top 10 nations in the world affected by climate change. We depend on or rivers, we are mainly an agricultural country. 80 percent of our water comes from the glaciers and these are melting at an alarming pace. We detected 5000 glacier lakes in our mountains. If nothing is done, we fear humans are facing a huge catastrophe. In , a province of Pakistan, we planted a billion trees in 5 years. Now we are targeting 10 billion trees. But one country can not do anything. This has to be a combined effort of the world. My optimism comes from the fact that the Almighty has given humans great powers. We can do great things. And this is where I want the United Nations to take the lead in invoking this will. Rich countries who contribute the most to green house gas emissions must be held accountable."

"And then India; let me tell you my relationship with India. Because of cricket, which is followed with great passion in the subcontinent, I have great friends in India. I’ve always loved going to India. So my first move was to reach out to Modi and I said let’s work our differences, leave our past behind and our main priority should be our people as we have similar problems; poverty and climate change. Highest number of people reside in subcontinent. On zero response from India; we thought we should wait till the Indian elections since BJP is a nationalist party. Meanwhile, a Kashmiri boy radicalized by Indian forces blew himself up on an Indian convoy. Immediately India blamed Pakistan. I told India to give us any proof and we’d act. We had actual proofs of Indian intervention in some terrorist attacks in our Balochistan province. We even caught their spy Kulbhushan Yadav who admitted to crimes. Instead of sharing proofs of any Pakistani’s alleged involvement in Pulwama attack, they tried to bomb us. We retaliated. We captured their pilot; but returned him the next day because we did not want the situation to escalate."

"It (standing by Kashmiris) is jihad. We are doing it because we want Allah to be happy with us, it is a struggle and do not lose heart when the time is not good. Do not be disappointed as the Kashmiris are looking towards you, would win if the stood by their side."

"What is happening in Afghanistan now, they have broken the shackles of slavery.... When you adopt someone’s culture you believe it to be superior and you end up becoming a slave to it. You take over the other culture and become psychologically subservient. When that happens, please remember, it is worse than actual slavery. It is harder to throw off the chains of cultural enslavement."

"What a time I have come – so much excitement.…"

"Every year billions of dollars leave poor countries and go to rich countries. Billions of dollars siphoned by corrupt politicians to tax havens, expensive properties bought in western capitals. It is devastating to the developing world. Corruption is impoverishing the developing world. Difference b/w rich & poor countries is growing due to this. Money laundering is not treated the same as drug money or terror financing. Today poor countries are being plundered by their elites."

"In my country, when I took charge of our government a year back, in the 10 years preceding that our total debt went up 4 times. As a result; the total revenue we collect in one year, half of it went into debt servicing. How will we spend on our 220 million population when our money was plundered by the ruling elite? And when we located properties of these corrupt leaders in western capitals, we find it so difficult to retrieve it. If we retrieve the plundered money, we could spend it on human development. But there are laws protecting these criminals. We don’t have the money to hire lawyers worth millions of dollars. The rich countries must show political will; they can not allow this flight of capital from poor countries through corruption. How can poor countries meet the United Nations SDG’s when money for human development can easily leave our countries? There must be a deterrent; the corrupt ruling elite must not be allowed to take money out and park it in tax havens. Why is it legal to have tax havens where you have these secret accounts? The world is changing; if the poor get poorer and the rich get richer, there will be a crisis soon. It will lead to a major crisis. The world bank, the IMF, the Asian developing bank must find a way to stop this plunder."

"About Suicide attacks; because the 9/11 bombers did suicide attacks, all sorts of theories came out like those about virgins in heaven. This bizarre thing happened where suicide attacks were equated with Islam. No one bothered researching the Tamil Tigers and the Japanese Kamikaze bombers. No one blamed religion when they carried out suicide attacks and rightly so because no religion teaches violence."

"The Nehru-Liaqat Pact of 1950, concluded with Pak Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan amid mass killing of Hindus in East Bengal, prevents the Government o fIndia from any form of interference when Hindus are maltreated in Pakistan and its partial successor state Bangladesh."

"“Now let me give you a sample of the leadership which Muslim society has produced so far, and in an ample measure. The foremost that comes to my mind is Liaqat Ali Khan, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan. Immediately after partition, there was a shooting in Sheikhupura in which many Hindus who were waiting for repatriation in a camp, were shot down. There was a great commotion in India, and Pandit Nehru had to take up the matter in his next weekly meeting with Liaqat Ali in Lahore. The Prime Minister of Pakistan had brought the Deputy Commissioner of Sheikhupura with him. The officer explained that the Hindus had broken out of the camp at night in the midst of a curfew, and the police had to open fire. Pandit Nehru asked as to why the Hindus had broken out of the camp. The officer told him that some miscreants had set the camp on fire. Pandit Nehru protested to Liaqat Ali that this was an amazing explanation. Liaqat Ali replied without batting an eye that they had to maintain law and order. This exemplifies the quality of leadership which Muslim society has produced so far. This…”"

"[Nehru] himself (and the entire secularist establishment till today) reneged on his duty to defend the non-Muslims surviving in the Islamic state which he had helped to create. In the Nehru-Liaqat Pact of 1950, he had given up every right to interfere on behalf of the minorities in Pakistan. By effectively condoning the persecution of non-Muslims in Pakistan, he must accept a share in the responsibility for the retaliatory tribal violence which killed Rasschaert."

"Still more provocative speeches, if possible, were made by other Muslim League leaders on this occasion. Nawabzada Liaqat Ali Khan, now Prime Minister of the Dominion of Pakistan, elucidating the implications of the Direct Action threat, said: “Direct Action means resort to non-constitutional methods, and that can take any form which may suit the conditions under which we live. We cannot eliminate any methods. Direct Action means any action against the Law.”"

"Allah, save this country! Pakistan zindabad!"

"Mr. Liaquat All Khan told the Associated Press of America that Direct Action meant ” resorting to non-constitutional methods, and that can take any form and whatever form may suit the conditions under which we live.” He added, <fc We cannot eliminate any method. Direct Action means any action against the law.”"

"In her death the subcontinent has lost an outstanding leader who worked for democracy and reconciliation in her country. The manner of her going is a reminder of the common dangers that our region faces from cowardly acts of terrorism and of the need to eradicate this dangerous threat."

"The U.S. came to understand that Bhutto was not a threat to stability but was instead the only possible way that we could guarantee stability and keep the presidency of Musharraf intact."

"The Islamists killed Benazir Bhutto as they killed her father. But they shouldn’t be allowed to kill Pakistan’s hopes for democracy."

"We in Afghanistan condemn this act of cowardice and immense brutality in the strongest possible terms. She sacrificed her life for the sake of Pakistan and for the sake of this region."

"Bhutto is a survivor and has an infinite belief in herself and her abilities. Rarely does she reveal even glimpses of her true character or her real thoughts. She may have genuinely not yet decided whether to return. Or she may have accepted that she can never return, but intends to leave the military on tenterhooks for as long as possible. Despite Musharraf's hostility, Bhutto's party is still the strongest political force in Pakistan and she is the only Pakistani politician with any natural charisma."

"Benazir was now prime minister, the first-ever female Muslim head of government anywhere—and one of the rare women leaders on the world stage, still a small club. But she would never again appear in public—in Pakistan or overseas—without a veil, a loosely wrapped white chiffon scarf that became her trademark. She would try to undo Zia’s Islamization and carry forward her father’s dream of a progressive country where there was no discrimination on the basis of sex, race, or religion. But she would fail, assailed by the now entrenched religious and security establishment bristling at a woman leader and her secular rule. With the encouragement of Saudi clerics, there had even been fatwas against her run for office. She would be removed from power by August 1990, outdone by the military establishment’s maneuvers against her, and plagued by allegations of corruption."

"Benazir Bhutto’s party, the Pakistan Peoples Party, won enough seats to form a government. For five days, there was dancing and music on the streets of Pakistan, a public eruption of joy after years of fear, a celebration of life after everything but religion had been banned. Were people celebrating the first democratic elections in over a decade, or was it a belated celebration of Zia’s demise? Probably both, but another, more amorphous dictatorship was taking hold of the country, born from seeds planted there by Zia, with generous help from Saudi Arabia and the United States."