ISLAMABAD: The joint sitting of the parliament on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution, condemning the life imprisonment given to Kashmiri Hurriyat leader Yasin Malik by an Indian court in the strongest possible terms.
The resolution was moved by Minister for Human Rights Riaz Hussain Pirzada, which was adopted unanimously by the joint sitting of parliament.
Taking part in the debate, law and justice minister Azam Nazir Tarar said that Malik was illegally sentenced by the fascist Indian regime, which is not acceptable and Pakistan would raise the issue at every international forum.
He said that Malik’s sentence is a serious human rights violation, as every citizen wherever he lives has some right to life, liberty, and fair trial, but Malik was deprived of them all.
He said that Malik was given punishment through a sham trial, which is not acceptable to us, adding there is a need to discuss the punishment to Malik instead of the economy, and a resolution should also be passed and it be sent to the human rights organizations and embassies including the Indian embassy in Pakistan.
He regretted that PTI chairman Imran Khan should have brought out the people to protest against Indian state terrorism to suppress the Kashmiri’s right to self-determination, but he did not, which is quite unfortunate.
Senator Raza Rabbani said that Malik was sentenced on fake charges, adding “in pursuance of its expansionist policy, the fascist Indian regime has started yet another chapter of barbarism in Kashmir”.
He said that Malik was sentenced to life imprisonment in a fake, factitious, and a malicious case by the Indian fascist regime of Narendra Modi, adding there was a need to send a strong message from Islamabad against Indian brutality being meted out to innocent Kashmiri people and people elsewhere in the world who are fighting for their right to self-determination.
“I’m sorry to say whatever we witnessed inside Pakistan on May 25, forget about people of Kashmir, the people inside Pakistan were forced to think whether the country is being pushed towards anarchy,” he said while referring to the PTI sit-in a day ago.
Through this joint sitting, he added, we need to understand that within Pakistan politics, there are only two powers, and there is no need to look towards any third force, adding both the political power – in one way or another – are leaning on a third force. “The main political problem is that we are looking to forces outside the Constitution. Allow me to say that where we looked up to a third force and are still looking towards it, a fourth force is also set to join it,” he regretted.
In the same breath, he said that “if you look at court orders of last three to four days, it becomes clear that a fourth force is also being pushed to enter the political arena of the country which is highly dangerous as the courts are the bastion of law and the defenders of the Constitution”.
“The courts are defenders of 1973 constitution and the courts proved that when the Constitution came under attack in this very house, the courts rose to defend the constitution,” he added.
He went on to say that regulating the protest demonstrations is the job of the executive and every institution – the trichotomy of power – which has been given a role in the Constitution must stay within that constitutional role.
Rabbani said that the parliament which is a supreme body under the Constitution made itself redundant by not playing its constitutional role, adding the status of the parliament which shows its redundancy is that no agreement whether it is pertaining to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) or another agreement, is not placed before the parliament.
“Not a single agreement made with the IMF and the FATF was placed before the parliament…the financial sovereignty of the country was sold out to the imperialist powers but this parliament acted as a silent spectator and didn’t play its due role,” he regretted.
He said that the parliament did not stand up “when the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) was handed over to the IMF. Today, through you, I want to request this parliament that the amendments in the SBP law must be repealed to give the central bank its previous status,” he maintained.
At the same time, Rabbani also said that the trade with India starts only when the issue of Kashmir is resolved as per the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said Pakistan is firmly standing with its Kashmiri brethren, adding Kashmir is an integral part of Pakistan.
He regretted that during the last four years, Pakistan remained indulged in its internal politics which damaged the Kashmir cause, adding Kashmir valley has been turned into a big prison after the special status of Kashmir was changed.
He said it was the double standards of the international community that they remained silent on the issues related to the Muslims, and otherwise, they remained active.
Other members belonging to all the political parties in the house also spoke on the issue and strongly condemned the life imprisonment given to the Kashmiri leader.
According to the resolution passed by the house, “the house condemned the abhorrent attempt of the Indian government to deprive the Kashmiri people of their true leadership – a blatant violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”.
It said the struggle for the right to self-determination in the occupied Kashmir was indigenous and could not be dampened by the draconian strong-arm tactics of the Indian government.
Besides asking the government for taking immediate steps on the matter, the joint sitting urged the international community to ask India to drop all fabricated charges against all political leaders of the occupied Kashmir, including Yasin Malik, and ensure their safety and well-being.
The resolution said the Indian government should arrange a meeting of Yasin Malik with his spouse Mushaal Mullick along with his 10-year-old daughter. The joint sitting of the house was adjourned till June 7 4pm.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
Comments
Comments are closed.