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| 13 April 2004 | Tuesday | 22 Safar 1425 |
Court verdict to be challenged: PML-N - Javed Hashmi's sentencing criticized
LAHORE, April 12: The PML-N would challenge the conviction of its acting president Javed Hashmi before the Lahore High Court and launch a 10-day protest from Tuesday in all major cities against the court verdict
, a party leader said on Monday.
PML-N's provincial president Khwaja Saad Rafiq, MNA, told a news conference that parties in the ARD and outside would be invited to take part in the protest. Various opposition parties across the country also criticized the conviction and award of 23 years imprisonment to Mr Hashmi.
About the return of party president Shahbaz Sharif, Khwaja Rafiq said a decision in this regard would be taken at a meeting in London on April 18. He said the campaign that Gen Musharraf should stay as army chief beyond Dec 31 had proved that even a 'harmless' prime minister like Zafarullah Jamali was not acceptable to the establishment.
ARD's deputy information secretary Munir Ahmad Khan said the judgment had vindicated a US report that the judiciary in Pakistan was not free from the establishment's influence.
MMA information secretary and JUP vice-president Pir Ijaz Hashmi termed the verdict tragic and added that it had exposed the independence of courts. He said it was high time that all opposition parties united on one platform to launch a movement for winning freedom for judiciary and rescuing the country from a permanent martial law that had come in the shape of the National Security Council.
Awami Qiyadat Party information secretary Mohammad Mahdi said Mr Hashmi's name would be written with golden words in the list of those who had offered political sacrifices. Meanwhile, PML-N workers held a demonstration against the conviction inside the Shahbaz Sharif secretariat after police disallowed them to come on roads.
In Gujranwala, PML-N provincial organizer Ghulam Dastagir Khan, former adviser to prime minister Khurram Dastagir Khan and other leaders expressed anguish and resentment over the judgment and accused the government of victimizing its opponent on lame excuses. They demanded that Mr Hashmi should be released immediately.
SINDH: In Syedpur near Daharki, ARD chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim condemned the judgment and alleged that it had been done at the behest of the government.
Talking to newsmen, Mr Fahim, the acting chairman of the PPP, said the government was interfering in the judiciary's affairs. He said the matter would be discussed at an ARD meeting in Quetta on April 18.
He said it was unjust to sentence a patriot Pakistani on the sedition charges and added that the decision would not be acceptable to people. In Karachi, ARD provincial chief Zain Ansari alleged that by such "diktat General Pervez Musharraf and his supporters were pushing the country towards a civil war".
In a statement, he deplored the conviction of Mr Hashmi. He said Mr Hashmi was fighting for the cause of democracy, freedom and rule of law, and vowed to continue the struggle. PPP information secretary Taj Haider termed the verdict a black day in the history of Pakistan after the adoption of the NSC Bill by the National Assembly.
In Peshawar, PML-N information secretary Siddique-ul-Farooq told reporters that it was 'miscarriage of justice'. The verdict had added yet another dark chapter to the history of judiciary in Pakistan, he added. He said the judgment showed that courts were being dictated by the military rulers.
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