Karachi unrest: Don’t deploy army, says Asma
Urges all politicians to visit Karachi and find a solution to the problem together.
LAHORE:
A military operation in Karachi is not the right way to restore peace, Asma Jahangir, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president, said on Tuesday.
She told a press conference on Tuesday that if the police and rangers were backed, the law and order situation in the city could be controlled.
She said that if army was called, the jurisdiction of courts would be compromised and fundamental rights of citizens would be lost. She said summoning the army was not a solution to the problem.
She alleged that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and other political parties were behind Karachi’s violence. She urged leaders of all parties to visit Karachi and find a solution to the problem together. She said instead of encouraging divisions on the basis of language, politicians should work to end hatred.
She said politicians demanding a military operation in Karachi should not forget that by doing so military-courts will be established in Hyderabad. She said the legal fraternity will oppose such a development.
She condemned the demands by various quarters for deployment of army in Karachi saying, “Has the military operation been successful in restoring peace in Balochistan?”
She clarified media reports about her earlier statement at the Sindh High Court Bar saying that she had not talked about a long march.
She said that a Centre of Excellence for lawyers will be built in Islamabad at an estimated cost of Rs2 billion. A meeting of the Supreme Court Bar Association’s executive committee had been convened to invite tenders for this, she said.
She said that the SCBA will host a conference, Justice for All, Imparity for None, in Lahore on September 9-11. The chief justice of Pakistan will be the chief guest, she said.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 24th, 2011.
A military operation in Karachi is not the right way to restore peace, Asma Jahangir, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president, said on Tuesday.
She told a press conference on Tuesday that if the police and rangers were backed, the law and order situation in the city could be controlled.
She said that if army was called, the jurisdiction of courts would be compromised and fundamental rights of citizens would be lost. She said summoning the army was not a solution to the problem.
She alleged that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and other political parties were behind Karachi’s violence. She urged leaders of all parties to visit Karachi and find a solution to the problem together. She said instead of encouraging divisions on the basis of language, politicians should work to end hatred.
She said politicians demanding a military operation in Karachi should not forget that by doing so military-courts will be established in Hyderabad. She said the legal fraternity will oppose such a development.
She condemned the demands by various quarters for deployment of army in Karachi saying, “Has the military operation been successful in restoring peace in Balochistan?”
She clarified media reports about her earlier statement at the Sindh High Court Bar saying that she had not talked about a long march.
She said that a Centre of Excellence for lawyers will be built in Islamabad at an estimated cost of Rs2 billion. A meeting of the Supreme Court Bar Association’s executive committee had been convened to invite tenders for this, she said.
She said that the SCBA will host a conference, Justice for All, Imparity for None, in Lahore on September 9-11. The chief justice of Pakistan will be the chief guest, she said.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 24th, 2011.