KARACHI: Syed Matloob Hassan, an ex-Secretary of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was examined at the resumed hearing of the sedition case against nine political leaders in the court of Mian Muzaffaruddin, the Special Magistrate, West Pakistan, in Karachi yesterday. The nine political leaders are being proceeded against under Section 124-A PPC for having passed an alleged seditious resolution at the National Democratic Front meeting held in Karachi in 1963.

Messrs Mahmudul Haq Usmani, Sheikh Abdul Majid Sindhi, Mian Tufail Mohammad, Chaudhri Ghulam Mohammad, Mr Nasarullah Khan and Sardar Ataullah Khan Menghal were present at the hearing. Mian Mahmud Ali Qasuri, Maulana Abdul Sattar Niazi and Khwaja Mohammad Rafique had been granted exemption from attending the court on different grounds.

Answering a question of the defence counsel, Syed Matloob Hassan said that the Quaid-i-Azam was of the view that the elections to the Parliament should be on the basis of adult franchise and as far as elections to the specialised agencies were concerned, they should be restricted to those people who were actually engaged in that particular field. As far as the Government institutions were concerned, the witness said, Quaid-i-Azam was of the opinion that every individual living in the country and of an adult age should be given a chance to express his views either through a vote or by any other means.

Chaudhri Mohamad Ali, Chief of the Nizam-i-Islam Party and a former Prime Minister of Pakistan, and Mr K.H. Khurshid, a former President of the Azad Government of Jammu and Kashmir were not examined. Syed Matloob Hassan said that he had opportunities of knowing Quaid-i-Azam’s views about Pakistan as he was closely associated with him as his Private Secretary from 1940 to 1944.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2015

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