LONDON, March 22: The ARD will observe a country-wide protest on March 26 to show “solidarity with the bar and civil society struggling to uphold the sanctity and independence of judiciary”.
“The protest will be conducted on district-wise basis,” said former prime minister Benazir Bhutto who was answering questions along with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif at a joint press conference here well into the midnight on Wednesday after their almost 150-minute meeting at the PML-N chief’s high-end Park Lane flat.
Answering a question, Ms Bhutto said that the protest was not being held on April 3, the day the Supreme Judicial Council is scheduled to resume hearing of the CJ’s reference because most of PPP workers in the country would either have gone by that time to Larkana or will be on their way there to attend Mr Bhutto’s death anniversary.
In her opinion the Chief Justice was forcibly removed because the regime thought he cannot be relied upon to rubber-stamp its wishes and desires when the Supreme Court would be moved to hear some important constitutional issues like whether the President can be re-elected from the present assembly, whether he can be a person who is also the chief of the army staff and whether the former prime ministers could return home and contest elections.
She recalled that President Musharraf, soon after the military coup in October 1999, had sent home half of the superior court judges and then he did the same with more than half of high court judges.
“This is his second attack on the judiciary,” she pointed out.
She said the current judicial struggle was being rightly spearheaded by the bar and the civil society and the ARD leadership believes that it should not be exploited for partisan political purposes. Therefore the alliance, she added, has decided to support the campaign and express solidarity with it and not make it a partisan political affair.
“It is developing into a people’s struggle and we would like to see it remain as such,” she added.
She also appeared not mind the way different political parties were trying to stage their respective protests from different platforms and not making any effort to turn it into a united and joint struggle.
“Look at the government itself. The PML-Q has disassociated itself from the crisis, saying it is not its concern and called it a matter between the military and the judiciary while the MQM has roundly denounced the way the whole thing was being handled by the government,” she pointed out.
She said one should look at the big picture at what the people at large are saying and doing. “They are all against what the government is doing to the judiciary and whenever a hearing of the case is held all make a bee-line for the Supreme Court.”
She also said that one should not be disturbed by different positions being taken by different political parties on different issues.
“In every civilised society there exists such pluralities. We have differences with the MMA on a number of issues like the gender issue, the foreign policy etc. But that should not be a matter of concern. Such differences exist among political parties in democracies.”
Stating that Nato troops were giving their lives in Afghanistan to defend democracy, she said promotion of democracy should not be selective.
“If democracy must be defended in Afghanistan, it must also be defended in Pakistan.
“And to defend democracy in Pakistan it is essential for the international community to stop turning a blind eye to the suppression and oppression and excesses being committed by the military dictatorship in Pakistan,” she maintained.
Mr Sharif, who spoke only sparingly during the press conference and seemed to agree with everything Ms Bhutto was saying, when asked specifically for his opinion on the role of international community in Pakistan’s case, endorsed the position taken by Ms Bhutto on the issue.
He said that the international community should stop its double-speak and defend democracy in Pakistan.
“If they are preaching democracy in Iraq, if they are defending democracy in Afghanistan, they should also defend democracy in Pakistan; there should not be any double standard.”
He said during the two hours of their discussions, the two leaders had decided to continue their joint struggle against “this undemocratic government.”
“Musharraf is guilty of abrogating the constitution, turning an elected parliament into a rubber-stamp parliament and now he has assaulted the judiciary. One by one, this man has destroyed all institutions in the country,” Nawaz asserted in an emotional voice.
Ms Bhutto said she condemned the manhandling of Qazi Hussain Ahmed by the law-enforcement agencies.
She also once again condemned the attack on Geo, but said: “If Musharraf can apologise to Geo for the attack, he can also apologise to the CJ for the way he was manhandled by the police.”
