LAHORE, Oct 16: Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Makhdoom Javed Hashmi said the parliament owed its existence to the ‘No’ of deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry which he said to the dictator.

Addressing the Lahore High Court Bar Association before the start of its weekly procession for the restoration of the deposed judges on the Shahrah-i-Quaid-i-Azam here on Thursday, he said the lawyers would not have launched their movement in case the deposed CJP had not said ‘No’ to former President Pervez Musharraf.

The movement launched by the lawyers for the restoration of the deposed CJP resulted in holding of elections resulting in creation of the present parliament. Musharraf would have been still the president and Asif Zardari would have been in jail in case Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had not shown courage to confront former dictator.

He said lawyers’ movement for the restoration of an independent judiciary had no parallel in the history of Pakistan. The movement was not only the longest but the most successful one with respect to its achievements, he added.

He said some quarters were expressing disappointment about the movement’s future but it was bound to succeed, adding he had preferred to be present in lawyers’ meeting instead of attending the joint session of parliament at Islamabad. He said the lawyers wanted the supremacy of judiciary whereas their opponents wanted the supremacy of US.

Hashmi said the so-called war on terror had been thrust upon Pakistan by the US, but the people should not allow the interest of Pakistan to be subservient to the America’s.

He said the country’s present leadership had surrendered before the US because it had failed to understand the challenges faced by Pakistan. India, he said, had taken over control over Pakistan’s western borders from Nato forces.

He was of the view the US was ready to quit war in Afghanistan but political acumen was required to make it do that. British lawyer Nasim Ahmed Bajwa said the lawyers of UK and US supported the movement of their Pakistani colleagues and were sure of its success. The American lawyers had even taken out a procession in support of Pakistani lawyers, he added.

The lawyers joined the procession of the Lahore Bar Association from the Aiwan-i-Adal after the meeting. The joint procession marched to the Governor’s House where the participants staged a sit-in before dispersing.