Pakistan's deposed Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has said the country has drifted away from the ideals and vision of its founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah and is passing through the darkest period in its political history.
"Today as a nation, we find ourselves at a crossroads. It is a defining moment," he said in a statement released by top lawyer Athar Minallah on Tuesday on the birth anniversary of Jinnah.
Chaudhry said Jinnah's vision was to see Pakistan prosper as a democratic state embodying principles like the rule of law, freedom of speech, equality, tolerance, and protection of human rights and civil liberties.
The deposed judge, who is under house arrest and was barred from offering prayers on Eid last week, said it was Jinnah's dream to see all citizens freely practising their religious beliefs and achieving political and economic independence.
Chaudhry said the nation's founder envisaged an independent judiciary that would protect the fundamental rights of all citizens, and uphold the constitution and rule of law.
The statement said: "Today I join the Pakistani nation in their prayers and struggle to achieve the ideals of (Jinnah's) vision for bringing back the country under the rule of law and the constitution and to reverse the effects of this current darkest period of our constitutional and political history.
"It is our resolve and commitment to make the country (Jinnah's) Pakistan where there is supremacy of constitution and rule of law rather than one-man rule."
Chaudhry also quoted Jinnah as having said: "Minorities -- to whichever community they may belong -- will be safeguarded. Their religion or faith or belief will be secure. There will be no interference of any kind with their freedom of worship.
"They will have their protection with regard to their religion, faith, their life, their culture. They will be, in all respects, the citizens of Pakistan without any distinction of caste or creed."
Chaudhry was sacked and arrested after he refused to endorse the emergency proclaimed by President Pervez Musharraf in November.