Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that politicians and the legal fraternity have to fight jointly against the new dictatorship imposed in the name of 'Naya Pakistan'.
Speaking at the Lahore High Court Bar Association, the PPP chairman appreciated the role of Bar which always fought against the dictatorship and said the present government has imposed censorship on media and there is no freedom of speech and attacks on human and democratic rights are going on in the country.
He said even dictator like Zia had not imposed such restrictions on the people of Pakistan. He said in the past dictators trampled down the Constitution which caused irreparable loss to democracy. He said women were still deprived of their basic rights in Naya Pakistan and sexually exploited victims were looking for justice despite promulgation of laws on gender discrimination and sexual harassment.
He said the number of women judges in superior judiciary should be increased, adding that during the PPP government in 1994 five women judges were appointed in high courts but, unfortunately, none of them was elected to the Supreme Court due to gender discrimination.
Bilawal said: "A lawyer Quaid-e-Azam gave the country and another lawyer Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) gave the Constitution of 1973 and empowered the parliament".
He, however, regretted that the country could not enjoy complete democracy after the untimely demise of Qauid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He regretted that in the past the chief justices of Pakistan used the suo motu power for political purposes and demanded that a right to appeal should be given to the aggrieved party against the decisions of such cases. He also supported the demand of restoration of student unions, saying it is the part of PPP manifesto.
He said Zulifkar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) gave the country its first Constitution of 1973 which provided a parliamentary form of government wherein Parliament was made supreme and the executive was subservient to the prime minister.
He recalled that the PPP formed government thrice against all odds and served the people of this country who, according to him, never accepted the judicial murder of ZAB.
He said General Ziaul Haq had suspended the constitution, sent the judges home and scripted the judicial murder of the then elected prime minister Zulifkar Ali Bhutto.
He said Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari were implicated in false cases as not a single allegation was proved against them. He pointed out that Asghar Ali Khan case exposed a conspiracy hatched to keep the PPP at bay from masses. He however said we were still awaiting justice in the murder case of first elected women prime minister Benazir Bhutto, hoping it would be done and real culprits would be punished. He added, "If the Benazir case could not be decided then we can judge the mercies of common people in Naya Pakistan".
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