The government committed worst kind of human right violations on the arrival of the former Punjab Chief Minister, Mian Shahbaz Sharif, on May 11, 2004 at Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore, by using state force against PML (N) and ARD workers and activists.
Addressing a news conference at Lahore Press Club on Sunday, Chairman Human Rights Council and a former member of National Assembly Mumtaz Ahmed Tarar claimed that by not allowing Shahbaz Sharif entry into his own country, the government set a worst example of human rights violation.
The police and other law enforcement agencies were given free hand to deal with PML (N) and ARD workers who were brutally baton-charged, teargassed and arrested, he alleged.
The government against the verdict of the Supreme Court of Pakistan sent Shahbaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia, which exposed the government claims for rule of law in the country, he remarked.
This also means that there is no respect of higher judiciary in the country, he added.
"Sending Shahbaz back to Saudi Arabia by the government is of course an issue, but the issue that is more important is whether there is any rule of law in the country and whether we respect human dignity and higher judiciary.
These are the questions which we need to answer," he commented. Tarar said that Human Rights Council has planned to convene a 'national conference' of all important political parties in July and these questions will be put before this forum for debate.
This national conference will provide an opportunity to the political parties to review and re-determine their role in a democratic society and arrive at a consensus on basic principles leading towards a true democratic culture which guarantees protection of human rights, human dignity and where there is no place for victimisation of political opponents, he added.
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