ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) assured the Supreme Court on Saturday that it would act according to the constitution and would be guided by the principles enunciated in the July 31, 2009, judgment which declared the emergency proclamation of Nov 2007 unconstitutional.

A statement submitted before the court by Advocate Ali Zafar on behalf of PAT chief Dr Tahirul Qadri said the party was committed to upholding human rights, morality, rule of law, democracy and the constitution.

A five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk, had specifically asked Dr Qadri’s counsel on Friday to submit the party’s stand about apprehensions of unconstitutional or extra-constitutional action, as expressed by a number of high court bar associations through petitions before the apex court.

In its reply the PAT also warned of consequences, both legal and political, in case the government decided to use force to quell the demonstration.

The government cannot “pass the buck” and ask the court to take its responsibility, the reply emphasised. The PAT explained that it would continue its “struggle for elimination of poverty, provision of free education to all and end to corruption”.

The statement also offered a solution for ending the present stalemate by suggesting that the government and the people in power should sacrifice personal interest and come on the negotiation table, which under the Constitution cannot be spread before the Supreme Court.

It requested the court to keep out of this sensitive situation, recalling that courts in other countries have either avoided or failed to control the wave of change. “The change is written on the wall and shall be the destiny of this country,” the reply said.

It said the PAT and hundreds of thousands of men and women who have gathered to press their demands were exercising their fundamental right to a peaceful “sit-in” in Islamabad.

Neither PAT nor its supporters are violating the rights of other citizens and have not created nor intend to block any roads or deny any access to the people to or from any buildings or workplaces, the reply said, adding that it has not restricted the movement of others.

There is no violence, no buildings are being damaged. The demonstrators are ensuring that the place where they are staging dharna remains clean and hygienic, it said, adding that to the contrary the participants of the sit-ins have come from all over Pakistan and are sitting, lying, sleeping and staying on the sidewalks, under open sky, facing a scorching sun and enduring the terrible heat in the day.

The statement said these people who have no shelter from rain are bearing this misery and pain for the last many days, with little food, water and medicine, and with no washing facilities, all for their cause of justice. In spite of these terrible conditions the sit-in is peaceful, no one is being restricted from movement and this fact can be experienced by any person walking amongst the demonstrators.

It, however, blamed the government for causing suffering to the people by putting containers all over Islamabad. The actions of the government are arbitrary and disproportionate, but the fundamental right of PAT supporters to demonstrate cannot be curtailed by overreaction from the government, it said.

The reply said Dr Qadri was not a lone voice and not speaking on his own nor his presence in dharna was an individual act. Dr Qadri in fact is speaking out the demands of hundreds and thousands of men and women, who are sitting at dharna in Islamabad, demanding with one voice all that which he has put up before the media, and informed the government from time to time.

The statement said that the current dispute was between two political entities, and the issue was purely political and not legal.

About the role of the government in dealing with demonstrations, the reply said it was the duty of the government to let peaceful protests and assemblies happen, provide security to the demonstrators and ultimately to accept and solve the political questions and demands raised through political will, dialogue or talks.

It repeated that the courts have no role in solving political issues or ordering the demonstrations, marches, sit-ins, protests etc to stop or control or monitor the same.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2014