LHC to hear petition terming former dictators 'traitors'

Petition also seeks politicians who supported dictators to be permanently disqualified from holding public office.

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court admitted on Thursday a petition seeking directions to declare all former dictators “traitors” for abrogating the Constitution.

The petition, which has been accepted for regular hearing, also seeks that politicians who supported these dictators should be permanently disqualified from holding public office.

Advocate Rana Ilamuddin submitted that dictators Iskander Mirza, Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf abrogated the Constitution and usurped people’s fundamental rights in order to silence voices against their dictatorial regimes. He submitted that politicians played second fiddle to these dictators to allow them to prolong their rule.

The petitioner also prayed that the registration of Musharraf’s political party, the All Pakistan Muslim League, should be set aside. However, if it is yet to be registered, the chief election commissioner should be barred from registering it, he said.

The court directed the registrar’s office to fix the petition for hearing on Friday before an appropriate bench.