HYDERABAD, April 14: Sindh Tarraqi Pasand Party chairman Dr Qadir Magsi has said that independence of the judiciary will be ‘meaningless’ without reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Choudhry and other deposed judges and democracy will be ‘irrelevant’ without independence of the judiciary.

He stressed the need for upholding supremacy of the Constitution and said that in order to ensure sanctity of the Constitution, it was necessary to punish those who had violated it. He said that no-one could have thought of violating the Constitution had Gen Ziaul Haq been punished for the crime.

Mr Magsi, who was addressing the Hyderabad District Bar Association here on Monday, said it was unfortunate that even a representative government had not been unable to act against blatant violations of the constitution.

He paid tribute to the deposed chief justice for his perseverance and for saying ‘no’ to President Pervez Musharraf on March 9 last year.

He said the struggle of lawyers was for the glorious goals of independence of the judiciary, reinstatement of deposed judges and the rule of law. He said civil society had also struggled for the cause and faced baton-charging and imprisonment. Their sacrifices, he said, must not be allowed to go in vain.

He held the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and President Musharraf responsible for the May 12 and April 9 tragedies when ruthless attempts were made to suppress the struggle of lawyers.

He said the political parties which attended the multi-party conference in London last year resolved that the MQM would not be made part of a future set-up.

After April 9, he added, no-one should have any doubt about the nature of the MQM.

The STP chief demanded high-level inquiries into May 12, October 18, April 9 and Nishtar Park tragedies.

He reiterated that his party stood for a new arrangement on the basis of the 1940 resolution, giving all nationalities full rights over their resources.

He said under a system which gave 55 per cent representation in parliament to one province and resources and jobs were distributed on the basis of population, provinces like Sindh could never expect justice.

He urged political parties to adhere to the London declaration which called for removing President Musharraf and doing away with the role of army and intelligence agencies in politics.