Dual citizenship issue: Suspended Punjab MPA fends off disloyalty charge in court
Dr Amna Buttar’s statement to the SC cites her role in the anti-drone strikes campaign.
ISLAMABAD:
Suspended for holding dual citizenship, member of the Punjab Assembly Dr Amna Buttar defended herself before the Supreme Court on Saturday – asking the court to dismiss petitions questioning her loyalty to Pakistan.
A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry recently suspended Buttar’s Punjab Assembly membership for holding American citizenship. In response, Buttar submitted a concise statement to defend her loyalty towards Pakistan. She also submitted a detailed list of her achievements and her campaign against drone attacks in Pakistan.
Buttar also highlighted her family’s struggle for the independence of the country’s judiciary. She said that being a student of medical sciences, she obtained US citizenship in 1992 but she is a Pakistani national by birth.
Buttar told the court that as a founder of the Asian American Network Against Abuse, she led protests against former dictator Pervez Musharraf in New York City and Washington DC. As a result, she said, she and her family were harassed in Pakistan and threatened by the military establishment through a man identified as Brigadier Ijaz Shah.
In her statement, Buttar said Brigadier Shah personally met her in 2005 and issued a direct death threat. She added that this harassment only strengthened her resolve to continue being a voice for the oppressed in Pakistan. Dr Buttar also told the court that in April 2007, she participated in a lawyers’ rally in Islamabad and was targeted and brutally assaulted by the Elite Police on the premises of the Supreme Court.
She said that her name was highlighted in the list of dual nationality holders in order to target her. Buttar argued that she has not violated Section 14 of the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951, and Article 63(1)(c) is not applicable at this stage because no objections were raised at the stage of scrutiny of her nomination papers. She added that her election had never been challenged before any election tribunal.
Though the Supreme Court seeks proper arrangements for overseas Pakistanis to vote in general elections, it made it clear this week that it would not allow dual nationals to be a part of the national or provincial assemblies, citing constitutional restraints.
Senator Wasim Sajjad, counsel for MNA Farahnaz Ispahani (who holds citizenship of both Pakistan and the US), told the bench that it was unrealistic to question someone’s loyalty and suspend their assembly membership on the basis of the nationalities they held.
The court has suspended the memberships of Ispahani and then federal interior minister Rehman Malik for dual citizenship. Ispaphani’s lawyer asked the court to refer this matter to parliament or interpret the Constitution for the sake of national interest.
The court will take up the issue on June 25.
Published In The Express Tribune, June 24th, 2012.
Suspended for holding dual citizenship, member of the Punjab Assembly Dr Amna Buttar defended herself before the Supreme Court on Saturday – asking the court to dismiss petitions questioning her loyalty to Pakistan.
A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry recently suspended Buttar’s Punjab Assembly membership for holding American citizenship. In response, Buttar submitted a concise statement to defend her loyalty towards Pakistan. She also submitted a detailed list of her achievements and her campaign against drone attacks in Pakistan.
Buttar also highlighted her family’s struggle for the independence of the country’s judiciary. She said that being a student of medical sciences, she obtained US citizenship in 1992 but she is a Pakistani national by birth.
Buttar told the court that as a founder of the Asian American Network Against Abuse, she led protests against former dictator Pervez Musharraf in New York City and Washington DC. As a result, she said, she and her family were harassed in Pakistan and threatened by the military establishment through a man identified as Brigadier Ijaz Shah.
In her statement, Buttar said Brigadier Shah personally met her in 2005 and issued a direct death threat. She added that this harassment only strengthened her resolve to continue being a voice for the oppressed in Pakistan. Dr Buttar also told the court that in April 2007, she participated in a lawyers’ rally in Islamabad and was targeted and brutally assaulted by the Elite Police on the premises of the Supreme Court.
She said that her name was highlighted in the list of dual nationality holders in order to target her. Buttar argued that she has not violated Section 14 of the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951, and Article 63(1)(c) is not applicable at this stage because no objections were raised at the stage of scrutiny of her nomination papers. She added that her election had never been challenged before any election tribunal.
Though the Supreme Court seeks proper arrangements for overseas Pakistanis to vote in general elections, it made it clear this week that it would not allow dual nationals to be a part of the national or provincial assemblies, citing constitutional restraints.
Senator Wasim Sajjad, counsel for MNA Farahnaz Ispahani (who holds citizenship of both Pakistan and the US), told the bench that it was unrealistic to question someone’s loyalty and suspend their assembly membership on the basis of the nationalities they held.
The court has suspended the memberships of Ispahani and then federal interior minister Rehman Malik for dual citizenship. Ispaphani’s lawyer asked the court to refer this matter to parliament or interpret the Constitution for the sake of national interest.
The court will take up the issue on June 25.
Published In The Express Tribune, June 24th, 2012.