Senate chairman calls for dialogue among state pillars
Says it is impossible to fight terrorism, poverty without consensus on constitutional issues
Senate chairman Raza Rabbani. PHOTO: AFP
QUETTA:
Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani has called for a dialogue on constitutional issues among the state institutions for developing a framework under which all the institutions could work.
“The parliament, the executive, the judiciary and the security establishment should come forward and agree to a working relationship among all the state institutions so that they work under the 1973 Constitution,” Rabbani said on Wednesday while addressing a seminar in Quetta.
The seminar was arranged to commemorate services of Advocate Baz Mohammad Kakar, who was among the dozens of lawyers killed on August 8, 2016 in a deadly suicide and gun attack in the premises of Quetta’s Civil Hospital.
Pillars Of State: Govt believes in separation of powers
Rabbani said the executive was seen as invading and trying to dominate parliament and judiciary which was wrong and undemocratic.
“All institutions of the state should function within their constitutional limits. Without reaching at a consensus on the constitutional issues, it is impossible to fight terrorism, rampant poverty and anarchy from the country,” he added.
Paying glowing tributes to Shaheed Kakar and his associates and offering prayers for their departed souls, Rabbani said: “The path shown to us by the martyred lawyers has no parallel in history as they struggled for the rights of the common people.”
He said that lawyers, including late Kakar and Senator Aitezaz Ahsan, offered sacrifices for the rule of law, supremacy of the Constitution and parliament. “When there is no rule of law, there will be anarchy in the country,” he added
He was of the opinion that even one year after the sad incident, Pakistan had not made any progress in defending the inalienable right or constitutional and democratic rights of the people.
“Rather we have regressed when it comes to defending rights of the people. The biggest task is supremacy of the Constitution of Pakistan that ensures democratic rule over the country,” he said.
Pillars of the state: Elected members bemoan bureaucratic ‘interference’
He said the government had created a special division for security of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) but the state and its security institutions had miserably failed to defend the precious lives of the citizens.
“It is the fundamental duty of the state” to defend the lives and properties of the citizens without any discrimination, he said.
The Senate chairman said there was no need for any individual or a group of individuals to seek a certificate of patriotism from Islamabad or Rawalpindi. “We all are Pakistanis and equal before the law.”
The seminar was also addressed by Senator Aitezaz Ahsan, Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldini, Maulana Abdul Wasey, Nawab Mohammad Khan Shahwani, Dr Abdul Hayee Baloch, Abdul Khaliq Hazara, Maulana Abdul Qadir Loni, Abdul Mateen Akhwandzada and Asghar Khan Achakzai.
Most of the speakers were of the view that the August 8 terror attack was not just against lawyers, but all the people of Balochistan. They resented that the Judicial Commission Report on the Quetta massacre had not been implemented.
Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani has called for a dialogue on constitutional issues among the state institutions for developing a framework under which all the institutions could work.
“The parliament, the executive, the judiciary and the security establishment should come forward and agree to a working relationship among all the state institutions so that they work under the 1973 Constitution,” Rabbani said on Wednesday while addressing a seminar in Quetta.
The seminar was arranged to commemorate services of Advocate Baz Mohammad Kakar, who was among the dozens of lawyers killed on August 8, 2016 in a deadly suicide and gun attack in the premises of Quetta’s Civil Hospital.
Pillars Of State: Govt believes in separation of powers
Rabbani said the executive was seen as invading and trying to dominate parliament and judiciary which was wrong and undemocratic.
“All institutions of the state should function within their constitutional limits. Without reaching at a consensus on the constitutional issues, it is impossible to fight terrorism, rampant poverty and anarchy from the country,” he added.
Paying glowing tributes to Shaheed Kakar and his associates and offering prayers for their departed souls, Rabbani said: “The path shown to us by the martyred lawyers has no parallel in history as they struggled for the rights of the common people.”
He said that lawyers, including late Kakar and Senator Aitezaz Ahsan, offered sacrifices for the rule of law, supremacy of the Constitution and parliament. “When there is no rule of law, there will be anarchy in the country,” he added
He was of the opinion that even one year after the sad incident, Pakistan had not made any progress in defending the inalienable right or constitutional and democratic rights of the people.
“Rather we have regressed when it comes to defending rights of the people. The biggest task is supremacy of the Constitution of Pakistan that ensures democratic rule over the country,” he said.
Pillars of the state: Elected members bemoan bureaucratic ‘interference’
He said the government had created a special division for security of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) but the state and its security institutions had miserably failed to defend the precious lives of the citizens.
“It is the fundamental duty of the state” to defend the lives and properties of the citizens without any discrimination, he said.
The Senate chairman said there was no need for any individual or a group of individuals to seek a certificate of patriotism from Islamabad or Rawalpindi. “We all are Pakistanis and equal before the law.”
The seminar was also addressed by Senator Aitezaz Ahsan, Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldini, Maulana Abdul Wasey, Nawab Mohammad Khan Shahwani, Dr Abdul Hayee Baloch, Abdul Khaliq Hazara, Maulana Abdul Qadir Loni, Abdul Mateen Akhwandzada and Asghar Khan Achakzai.
Most of the speakers were of the view that the August 8 terror attack was not just against lawyers, but all the people of Balochistan. They resented that the Judicial Commission Report on the Quetta massacre had not been implemented.