SCBA calls for dialogue with Baloch leaders

Demands core issue of enforced disappearances be addressed by the govt.

PESHAWAR:

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on Saturday advised the government to open negotiations with Baloch leaders if it wanted to turn around the law and order situation in Balochistan, while warning that a “show of force” would only exacerbate the province’s problems.

The SCBA also urged the government to address the reservations of the Baloch people and resolve the issue of enforced disappearances.

Briefing the media after SCBA’s executive committee meeting at the Supreme Court’s registry branch on Saturday, SCBA President Yaseen Azad said the Balochistan situation has been deteriorating with each passing day.

“SCBA expresses its serious concerns over the law and order situation in Balochistan, as it has worsened despite a May 26 conference in Islamabad,” Yaseen Azad said.

Azad added that a five-member committee had been tasked to prepare for a national conference in Quetta which, he said, would take place in the near future.

He said the situation was unfavourable in all four provinces, but Balochistan remains critical due to the number of bullet riddled bodies and body bags that continue to be recovered there.

Additionally, Azad said that the verdict of the court should be implemented and non compliance with the court orders would violate Article 139 of the Constitution.

“The courts do not need any support. The courts are not helpless and do not need any one to help implement their verdicts,” he said.

“We tell the government that implementation of a court verdict is in its favour,” Azad said and stressed upon the government to immediately start building small dams to overcome the energy crisis.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 1^st, 2012.