ISLAMABAD, Oct 22: Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on Monday admitted that law enforcement agencies were striving hard to check the menace of terrorism in the country.

He also said that courts, including the anti-terrorism courts, were complementing the efforts by handling such cases expeditiously to dispense justice in a forthright and a transparent manner.

The chief justice was speaking at a function organised for a delegation of Indian Supreme Court Bar Association led by its president Dr Pravin H. Parekh.

The delegation is visiting Pakistan on the invitation of Yasin Azad, the outgoing president of the Supreme Court Bar Association.

“One of the results of terrorist and militant tendencies in our society is less commitment to the constitutional order due to which we also suffered many injuries in the past,” said Justice Chaudhry.

But he added: “I do not see any reason why Pakistan should not regain its position as a civilised and progressive country which is at peace with itself and with countries in the region and beyond.”

It is a proven fact of history and considered opinion of historians, scholars of law and politics that only those societies thrive and prosper where the twin principles of “rule of law” and “supremacy of constitution” are practised, he added.

In these societies, citizens can plan their lives in a secure and predictable environment with the belief that their social, political and economic rights are safeguarded. However, in societies which suffer from weak rule of law and where constitution is held in abeyance frequently, the writ of the state gradually loosens and society starts unraveling.

The present Pakistan, the chief justice said, had successfully transitioned itself to the rule of law based upon complete implementation of constitutionalism.

Pakistan and India, he recalled, were among the two nations the existence of which were possible primarily because of the visionary leadership of their founding fathers who were also distinguished jurists of their times.

Even today, the role of lawyers and jurists cannot be underestimated in terms of providing a strong leadership in both the countries.

Unfortunately, both India and Pakistan have not been able to maintain normal neighbourly relations since their inception, the chief justice said, adding many issues had bogged them down into endless conflict since their birth in August 1947.

However, there is no issue in the world which cannot be resolved through peaceful negotiation and the jurists being the most law-knowing and mature people and capable of molding public opinion can play their role in not only creating the environment for peaceful interaction between the two neighbours but also ensuring that such interaction is translated into real-time trust and harmony between the two countries.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Parekh said most of the peoples in both the countries were living in abject poverty and dying of hunger but the two nuclear-armed countries were busy spending billions in arming themselves. “We cannot afford any disaster and the only option left with us is to try people-to-people interaction through delegation like this,” he said.

“We need to give peace a chance,” he added.

The chief justice presented the shield of the Supreme Court to Dr Parekh who also presented a souvenir to the chief justice and other judges of the court.