28 March 2004	Sunday	06 Safar 1425

KARACHI, March 27: Most of the participants of a seminar, held here on Saturday, were of the view that there was a facade of democracy in the country while the military leadership was the actual ruler, although it had no such rights.

People of Pakistan, and not the military, had the right to govern, they told the seminar which deliberated upon the question whether or not parliament was supreme. The event was organized by the Pakistan Democracy Forum (PDF).

The speakers criticized the government for ignoring the parliament while tackling important matters and for taking decisions which were detrimental to the interests of people.

Deputy chief of Jamaat-i-Islami Senator Ghafoor Ahmad was of the view that the parliament had never been supreme as outsides flouted law of the land and will of the people.

In this context, he referred to the military operation in Wana, South Waziristan, and the issue of nuclear scientists. The issues were not discussed in the parliament on the plea that they were 'too sensitive', he said, and added that the parliament was helpless.

The JI leader said that when the question of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan and other nuclear scientist had been raised, the regime had refused to let the parliament take it up. Dr A. Q. Khan was then shown on TV tendering apology and the president granted him pardon.

Prof Ghafoor argued that the President on his own had no such powers unless the matter had gone through the normal court proceedings.

He said this country had not been harmed by millions of poor and generally illiterate people living in rural areas, but by those educated elite who got everything because of this country.

Responding to apprehensions expressed by a former law minister, Mrs Shahida Jameel, about the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), Prof Ghafoor said that contrary to the contention that the CII was not accountable to the parliament, the government had not allowed any of its reports to be discussed by the parliament. His contention was that it was only religion that could keep all the federating units together.

Another former law minister, Khalid Anwar, maintained that there had been radical amendments made to the Constitution. He also referred to the Supreme Court judgement, in Zafar Ali Shah's case, that validated the military take over by Gen Pervez Musharraf.

He said the examples of Grenada and Lesotho, cited in the judgement, were simply horrendous. The judgement had given Gen Musharraf three years to complete his objectives and leave, but the general was still there. "Why doesn't the Supreme Court enforce its authority?"

Mr Anwar deplored the LFO which, he said, was aimed at enabling the army chief to keep office of the President also. "The army chief is a grade-22 officer who is answerable to defence secretary. How can the army chief retain the additional slot of President...and how can the parliament be supreme in such a situation?"

The prime minister is accountable to parliament and the parliament to the people. But the President is not, said Mr Anwar.

In the context of the Wana operation, he said the deployment of army was contrary to the wisdom and farsightedness of the Quaid-i-Azam who had rejected the British advice meant for the army. 'More than 70,000 troops have been deployed against our own people." Regarding the current policies, Mr Anwar regretted that foreign and other policies had been reversed without any discussion in the parliament.

Mr Iqbal Haider, who is also a former law minister, said that since 1958, the army had never allowed democracy to flourish. He observed that a silent majority was victim of cynicism.

Advocating peaceful co-existence, he called upon the civil society to enter into a serious dialogue with the army.

Earlier, President of the PDF spelt out objectives of the platform.