Government should declare US 'Most Disfavoured Nation': LBA president

Bars condemn ‘deliberate attack’, demand change in foreign policy.

LAHORE: The Government of Pakistan should declare America “Most Disfavoured Nation” after the NATO attack that killed Pakistani soldiers, President Lahore Bar Association (LBA) Shahzad Hassan Sheikh said on Monday.

Addressing a press conference at Aiwan-e-Adl, Sheikh said that if the federal government can declare India ‘Most Favoured Nation’, it should also declare the United States (US) as its biggest enemy and place a permanent ban on NATO supplies and Afghan trade though Pakistani territory.

“The federal government should adopt a transparent, clear and un-flexible policy in this regard,” he said. “The whole nation, especially the lawyers community, is behind the government and Pakistan Army on the issue.”

This is a golden chance for Pakistan to appear as an independent nation, Sheikh said.

Sheikh said that the LBA will organise a protest rally in Lahore on December 1. The rally will head out from Aiwan-e-Adl to Lahore High Court and then to the Punjab Assembly.

This is the sixth time NATO forces have committed aggression over Pakistan’s ideological and geographical boundaries, and all this is according to the American plan, Sheikh said.

He said NATO forces were deployed in Afghanistan to maintain peace in the region and instead of achieving their goals had started to attack the sovereignty of Pakistan.

The LBA president said that the parliament had passed a unanimous resolution that had demanded that the US not violate the integrity of Pakistan, but it had been passed without the backing of any power or confidence necessary for the implementation of a resolution. Taking advantage of the situation, the US is free to act on its own will without any hurdle, he added.

Sheikh also said that, “we don’t want any compensation from America over the death of our soldiers, we only demand blood against blood.”

LBA General Secretary Ferhad Ali Shah also demanded that the government expel the US Ambassador from Pakistan. He termed the attack a “brutal and heinous act.”

Updated from Print Edition

The city’s lawyers have condemned the Nato strike on Pakistani check posts and called on the government to permanently cut the alliance’s supply lines through Pakistani territory.

Lawyers staged a protest rally at GPO Chowk and condemned the Nato attack in speeches, resolutions and press conferences on Monday as anger ran high at the deaths of 24 soldiers.

Members of the Supreme Court Bar Association and Lahore High Court Bar Association rallied on The Mall chanting slogans against the United States and demanding that Pakistan move the International Court of Justice.

At a joint session, the bars passed a unanimous resolution demanding permanent closure of the Nato supply line to Afghanistan through Pakistan, implementation of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet’s directive to the US to vacate Shamsi Airbase, and an end to drone attacks, failing which Pakistan should start shooting them down.

Earlier speaking at the general house meeting of the LHCBA at Kiani Hall, LHCBA President Asghar Gill said the government and the military should listen to the people, who saw friends of the US as traitors. He said lawyers would raise their voice against the violation of the country’s boundaries. He said all state institutions must meet their responsibilities. He prayed for the soldiers killed in the attack and for the quick recovery of the injured.

Advocate Ahmed Awais said protecting the country’s independence was the first responsibility of the government. He said the Nato strike was a deliberate attack, as the US wanted to “test” Pakistan’s independence and sovereignty. He said the government should change its foreign policy.

Awais said American agents were in government, proof of which was the release of CIA contractor Raymond Davis. He demanded that the Pakistan Army retaliate “in the same way”.

SCBA Vice President Imrana Baloch said Nato had violated international law and Pakistan’s sovereignty. She said the government must take legal action. She said the attackers should be prosecuted for war crimes.

LBA press conference

Addressing a press conference at Aiwan-i-Adl, Lahore Bar Association (LBA) President Shahzad Hassan Sheikh demanded the government declare America a “most un-favoured nation”.

He said the government should declare America its biggest enemy and permanently cut the Nato supply line in Pakistan. “The federal government should adopt a transparent, clear and un-flexible policy. The whole nation, especially the lawyers’ community, is behind the government and the Pakistan Army. This is a golden chance for Pakistan to be seen as an independent nation,” he said.

He announced that the LBA would march from Aiwan-i-Adl to the Lahore High Court and then to the Punjab Assembly on December 1 in a protest against the Nato attack.

Sheikh said that this was the sixth time that Nato forces had committed an act of aggression in Pakistani territory. “This is all according the American plan,” he said.

He said that Washington had been able to ignore the parliamentary resolution calling on the US not to violate Pakistan’s sovereignty because there was no confidence or power behind the resolution. “We don’t want any compensation from America over the death of our soldiers. We want blood for blood,” he said.

LBA General Secretary Ferhad Ali Shah demanded that the government exile the US ambassador from Pakistan over the “brutal and heinous” attack.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2011.