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Deposed Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharief Monday attacked military ruler General Pervez Musharraf for "begging" and agreeing to hold talks with India.
"The rulers have been begging to hold talks with India for two years, which is a shame for the nation," Sharief, who is in exile in Saudi Arabia, said in a recorded speech to the general council of his Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) which elected him as its leader in Islamabad.
Stating that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had travelled to Lahore at his invitation in 1999 after "according special recognition" to Pakistan, he regretted that, "I was dubbed a traitor at that time."
"I leave it to the people to describe as betrayal or loyalty the actions of the present regime," Sharief said in his first political comment after he was exiled to Saudi Arabia early last year.
Sharief, staged a major comeback into Pakistan politics with his PML (Nawaz) unanimously electing him leader.
He was elected by the party's general council, which was vertically split early this year amid allegations that pro-Musharraf loyalists within the party engineered divisions to get a majority of PMLs members elected parliamentarians to help Musharraf takeover as the president next year.
Significantly, Sharief was elected by flouting an ordinance promulgated by the military regime which specified that no convicted person could hold any political office.
PML chairman Raja Zafarul Haq, who is leading the party in Sharief's absence, said that elections for the party leadership has been delayed due to hurdles created by the government.
"We wanted to hold the party elections one year ago but the present government did not let us. We have neither parted ways with Sharief after the October 12 coup nor changed our stance. If any one had misconception that we could be forced to part our ways with him, he should be disillusioned now," Haq told a largely attended convention.
Referring to recent Indian offer of dialogue, he said if General Musharraf goes to India, he will have to hold talks under the Lahore declaration, which was signed by Sharief and Vajpayee in February, 1999.
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