ISLAMABAD: Former chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, who was widely credited with starting a trend of ‘judicial activism’, called upon the current chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) on Thursday to take notice of the horrific terrorist attack on the Civil Hospital in Quetta, which robbed the backward province of most of its intelligentsia.

However, the former chief judge stopped short of asking CJP Anwar Zaheer Jamali to take suo motu action in the matter. “The people in general and the heirs of the deceased in particular are feeling unsafe and unprotected,” Justice Chaudhry said while speaking to reporters at his residence, alongside Pakistan Justice and Democratic Party (PJDP) spokesperson Sheikh Ehsanuddin.

In a letter to the CJP, the former chief judge emphasised that the court must ensure the rights of the people of Balochistan, especially the right to life, guaranteed under Article 9 of the Constitution.

In the eight-page letter, written after his visit to Quetta, Justice Chaudhry recalled: “... I found the town shrouded in a pall of sorrow, agony and suffering,” Justice Chaudhry regretted, adding that the people had little faith left in the authorities.

“They told tales of suffering as well as despair and despondency,” the letter noted, adding that most of the slain lawyers were the sole breadwinners of their families, who now had no means of sustenance. Even after the announcement of compensation by the chief minister, no disbursement had been made so far, the letter said.

Justice Chaudhry also deplored the lack of attention paid by the provincial administration, including the chief secretary, home secretary, health secretary and medical superintendent of the Civil Hospital, to the severity of the Aug 8 incident.

“They showed no interest in the treatment of injured. The chief minister took a personal interest and so did defence authorities, who arranged aircraft to shift the seriously injured to Karachi for treatment.”

Had the provincial civil administration put in place a disaster management system, a good number of lives could have been saved, the letter said.

Justice Chaudhry also regretted that after the blast in the city’s biggest hospital, not a single doctor or medical practitioner came forward to attend to the injured. Although there are eight operating theatres on the premises, all the injured were shifted to the CMH without any regard for logistics or capacity.

This took considerable time because of the delay in security clearance and hindrances posed by the VIP movement, he deplored, adding that volunteers who came to donate blood could not make it to the CMH in time because of it.

The letter regretted that so far no action had been taken against the top officials of the civil administration.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2016