LAHORE, Nov 4: The PML-N on Saturday urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice of the Bajaur tragedy and see whether the army had transgressed the limits set by the Article 245 of the Constitution.

The party’s information secretary, Ahsan Iqbal, said at a news conference that the PML-N would not like to move a petition and instead prefer the apex court to prove that it could decide constitutional matters independently.

He recalled that the Supreme Court Bar Association had also taken a principled decision that it would not take any matter of constitutional importance to the apex court.

A former deputy chairman of the planning commission, Ahsan said the nation believed that the callous action which killed more than 80 people in a Bajaur seminary could not be taken by the armed forces. He said the action was taken by the US which was killing people in Iraq and Afghanistan through similar operations.

Assuming, as being claimed by the president and the ISPR, that the action had been taken by the Pakistan army, the PML-N leader said the general would have to explain under what provisions of the constitution it was justifiable.

Also, he said, the nation should be told why no attempt was made to capture the alleged terrorists alive.

Ahsan said if the apex court did not invoke its suo motu powers to see the factors behind the Bajaur tragedy, Gen Musharraf would feel encouraged to use it as a precedent and order more such operations in the future — even to target his political opponents.

He said it was not a coincidence that whenever some VIP from the US or the UK visited Pakistan, people of tribal areas had to face a brutal action.

Answering a question, he said the PML-N legislators were prepared to quit their seats immediately, but were delaying their decision in the hope that all opposition parties should take such a step at the same time.

He said if the PML-N lawmakers alone quit their seats, no dramatic change was expected on the political scene as the government would try to hold by-elections on the vacant seats. However, he said, it would be difficult for the government to adopt the same course if all opposition lawmakers vacated their seats at the same time.

Ahsan said the principled stand of the PML-N was being negatively affected because of the delay in tendering resignations. However, he said, the party was having to bear the loss to maintain unity among the opposition ranks and the greater good of the country.

He said in case other parties delayed the matter indefinitely, the PML-N might have to take its own decisions.

Lahore PML-N leaders Mian Mujtaba Shuja and Khwaja Imran Nazir were also present at the news conference.