Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani on Monday warned against formation of military courts for speedy trial of terrorists, saying that any constitutional amendment for the purpose will hit the basic structure of constitution.
Taking part in a debate on Peshawar massacre, Rabbani blamed successive governments for fuelling terrorism, lashing out at the ruling Pakistan Muslim league-Nawaz (PML-N) for not releasing required funds to National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) and not implementing National Internal Security Policy.
"The sharing of intelligence, which was the back bone of the so called policy has not materialised. Nacta, which was supposed to be the key body in the policy, lies ineffective," he lamented.
He said that executive had nothing to do with judiciary as defined in Articles 175, 203, 212 and 225 of the constitution, adding that Armed Forces have been dealt with under Articles 243, 244 and 245 of the constitution.
"Does it make sense to bypass altogether a well developed, civilian-led judicial system simply because that systems implementation may be flawed. The judges cannot convict or keep in detention terrorists if the administration does not provide the necessary evidence before them," he added.
He called for reining in the administration to protect its favourites, saying that the normal courts can deal with the cases of terrorism. The Military Courts are governed by the Army Act, 1952, he added, these courts deal with scheduled offences as mentioned in the Act.
He said that the last time such courts were established under the PML-N government in 1998 through an ordinance, allowing the establishment of Military Courts to try civilians for heinous crimes in Sindh.
However, he said these courts were declared unconstitutional and struck down by the Supreme Court on February 17, 1999 and their cases were transferred to Anti-terrorism courts (ATCs).
He recalled that in April 1977, these courts were also established to try civilians, adding the courts were declared illegal by the Lahore High Court in the Darvesh Arbi case. "Both prime ministers were subsequently removed by martial law ie one by Geb Zia and the other by General Pervez Musharraf," he added.
He said there was nothing new in the newly formed National Action Plan as it is replica of Nacta, which, Rabbani added, is now being activated after losing hundreds of precious human life in Peshawar school attack.
He maintained that the National Internal Security Policy had failed miserably to take off and now government must inform Parliament, as the problem is not the law, but there has been a lack of applications of the law.
"The government says it will block hate literature. The law is already there. The question is of implementation. In the next 15 days, let us see if there are any raids on presses that print it or those who distributed are arrested," he added.
He said that the government should inform Parliament after 15 days that what actions it took against banned militant outfits working under a new name, and the mode through which they get funding from abroad.
He said that anti-terrorist force was announced in the policy nine months ago, but no action had been taken till date. He also challenged the interior minister's claim that 90pc seminaries were registered, saying there were 400 unregistered seminaries in Islamabad only what to talk of other cities.
He said European Union had no business to interfere in Pakistan's internal affairs and its demand for a ban on the hangings was uncalled for. "It is a different matter that I am not in favour of execution as a solution but most certainly I cannot allow any foreign country to dictate Pakistan's internal affairs," he maintained.
He called for analysing the issues that made the enemy which has now picked up arms against the state. "The problems we're facing today is due to our policy of using religion as a state using to further its own political agenda. The religious political groups also used religion to rival the government and come to power. The state deliberately contributed to the rise of armed extremists. The state under Zia-ul-Haq joined the Afghan war. The state provided safe heavens to the militants. All kinds of mercenaries, Arabs, Chechens, Uzbek were allowed in the country and the state failed to repatriate them. The state created good and bad Taliban. They [Taliban] were allowed particularly in Zia's period to penetrate the civil and military services, political apparatus etc," he added.
He said the hard question that needs to be asked is whether the state is willing to give up its narrative of using religion for the furtherance of its agenda, and is the state willing to give up the policy of strategic depth.
"Is the state willing to give up the broader concept of pan Islamism? Is the state willing to clamp down on those within its rank who try to export Jihad beyond Pakistan's border? Is the state willing to remove whether in the political or civil or military apparatus those who are apologist," he questioned.
He further stated that military operation alone cannot eradicate or alter or change this situation. "We must realise that the militants have a narrative which to an extent has an appeal because it has been backed as a state policy," he added, a counter narrative is needed because this is a battle of the minds.
Senator Farogh Nasim of MQM, Senator Kalsoom Petrveen, Senator Kazim Khan and Senator Nisar Muhammad Khan also spoke. They also opposed formation of military courts. However, Farogh Nasim did say that any amendment to the constitution should be made without altering the basic structure of constitution. "The amendment should restrict military courts to trial of hardcore terrorists only," he added.
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