Sir: The federal government has learned no lessons from history. Our history is replete with violations of the Constitution. According to the PML-N, October 12, 1999, was the darkest day in the history of Pakistan. A democratic government was toppled. General Pervez Musharraf imposed martial law. Some people suggest that Musharraf was forced to do this by the then Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif, who ordered the removal of the COAS while he was in midair on a flight from Sri Lanka. In fact it was a coup d’état staged by one of the corps commanders. The rest is history. The PML-N could not generate any political protest or mass support for the deposed premier. No resistance was offered to Musharraf’s dictatorial rule. As a matter of fact the public distributed sweets to celebrate the military takeover. The deposed PM chose to go into exile and live comfortably in Saudi Arabia while PML-N workers languished inside prisons. These were the harsh realities of the time. A party that claimed a heavy electoral mandate was rendered helpless. Not a peep was heard. A case has now been registered against Musharraf under Article six of the Constitution for imposing a state of emergency in 2007. The point is that no one has lodged any case against the imposition of martial law, which was totally unconstitutional. October 12 came and went this year but no protest was made by either the PML-N or any political party to observe it as a black day. Some political analysts mentioned it briefly. We must not forget the foolishness and naiveté of people because these very people distributed sweets on October 12, 1999. JAVAID BASHIR Via Email