Days after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered a stay on pending executions, opposition leaders sought an explanation from the government regarding the decision.
“Under which law has the prime minister suspended death penalties?” Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Ali Muhammad Khan demanded in the National Assembly session on Tuesday. “The stay on executions is against the Islamic laws.”
In July, the government had announced it would not extend the moratorium on executions and the interior ministry started sending execution summaries to the presidency. The moratorium – introduced under a presidential order in 2008 – was largely kept in place by the previous Pakistan Peoples Party-led government.
But in a continuation of policies, the prime minister issued stay orders on executions on Sunday. President Asif Ali Zardari had written a letter to the premier in which he wanted to set up a meeting to discuss the issue of the long-pending death sentences of hundreds of convicts once he returns from his trip abroad.
Regretting the incumbent government’s decision, Ali Khan said that the government took the decision because of international pressure. “Will the government also place a ban on offering prayers or paying Zakat if it is asked to do so by an international organisation?” he retorted.
As a letter to the premier by President Zardari – who is also the co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) – had resulted in the continuation of policies, PPP MNA Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho responded to Ali Khan’s questions instead of those in the government.
She underlined the need for strengthening the investigation procedure, saying there were several loopholes in the system that resulted in the death of innocents instead of criminals. However, known terrorists and criminals should be executed, she added.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2013.
COMMENTS (10)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
1732762837-0/Taylor-(3)1732762837-0-405x300.webp "article")
It is important to work against corruption and nepotism, the system allows people with resources to walk free while those who are weak are dealt with strongly, why pakis are executed in saudi and iran, while westerners go free, checkout syrian Canadian kid who will never be executed in Saudi because he is Canadian ... Even though he has committed murder and courts have sentenced him to death. The kohail brother murder case in Saudi.
@Kamran Khan: totally agree with you....what is the fault of ordinary citizens that they need to be killed and the killer goes to life sentence instead of being hanged; i mean is this Shawshank Redemption we are doing
Terrorists, murderers, extortionists are welcome to kill us ordinary citizens and they will not be hanged as our media "liberals" and nawaz government want to keep their European patrons happy. Hindustanis are also welcome to kill us on the border by their forces and inside our country through terrorists like sarabjit singh and our media specially english media and nawaz government are with them to condemn us why we protest against our killing by hindustanis
Confused minds of PTI. They think it is a religious question and a moratorium on death penalty is the same as a ban on prayers. What twisted minds?
"“The stay on executions is against the Islamic laws.”"
Here we go another self proclaimed expert of Islam. sigh
what Islamic Law allows hanging can PTI let us know.
The twisted hyper-religiosity line of questioning and debate from PTI is ideologically close minded and hypocritical.
They know its less to do with humanitarian international pressure (whom they use as scapegoats to appeal to xenophobic religio-nationalist sentiments from the masses to demonize the Sharifs) and more to do with local pressure from the religio-political TTP extremists (whom PTI selectively choose not to condemn despite TTP openly admitting their relationship with the convicted LeJ terrorists who are to be hanged).
Regardless of the inane comments by PTI, PML-N has failed the test in standing up to the terrorists after all that talk and build up earlier in the week. They haven't all of a sudden become humanitarian, after dismissing human rights groups all these years, nor is there any pressure from the US who themselves employ the death penalty.
For the sake of justice and peace, please start execution as soon as possible.
Death penalty shouldn't have been suspended in the first place. Nothing plays on a criminal's mind better than the probability of a death penalty.