Defying orders: Protesters will not budge, Supreme Court told
PAT, PTI refuse to vacate Constitution Avenue.
ISLAMABAD:
A day after the Supreme Court ordered Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters to clear out their Constitution Avenue camps, the court was told that both parties have refused to vacate the area.
As the five-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk resumed hearing the Supreme Court Bar Association president’s petition against the anti-government demonstrations in the capital, the attorney general (AG) informed the court that Imran Khan’s PTI and Tahirul Qadri’s PAT were not willing to shift to an alternate venue.
Both parties are camped outside parliament situated on Constitution Avenue in the heart of Islamabad’s red zone and refused to budge till the prime minister steps down. On Monday, the court gave a 24-hour deadline to PAT and PTI supporters to abandon their Constitution Avenue camps.
Complying with the court’s order, Deputy Attorney General Sajid Ilyas Bhatti submitted a report on the outcome of the meetings held with legal representatives of both parties to discuss the clearance of Constitution Avenue which has been blocked for all kinds of traffic since August 19.
The report states that the meeting was held on Monday in the Pakistan Bar Council Library, where AG Salman Aslam Butt offered both parties an alternate site for the sit-ins. However the offer was rejected.
According to sources privy to the meeting, the attorney general, who represents the government, had offered two locations – the sprawling Sports Complex and the Parade Ground – for protest demonstrations.
On Tuesday, PTI chief’s counsel Ahmad Awais told the AG that the party chairman was not willing to move to another venue.
Meanwhile, Hamid Khan, another attorney representing the PTI chief, informed the court that PTI supporters have not blocked any routes nor were they restricting the flow of traffic in the area.
He stated that the protest was taking place in the Parade Ground, which is away from the parliament and other government buildings in the vicinity. Khan contended that the Parade Ground has not been used for any kind of traffic during the last five years.
Similarly, Barrister Ali Zafar, who was representing PAT chief informed the bench that the party was not willing to shift the demonstrations being staged close to the parliament and would not be able to vacate the site or open the road lanes along Constitution Avenue.
However, Zafar stated that the party leadership would make necessary arrangements for facilitating the flow of traffic along Constitution Avenue.
“In fact they are adamant to continue the sit-in on Constitution Avenue and say that the inconvenience of a handful citizen is nothing compared to the grief and misery of people whose near and dear ones have been killed or injured. People have refused to move from their positions,” the lawyer said.
In its reply, Qadri’s party has also expressed reservations that the government might misuse the court’s orders regarding the clearance of Constitution Avenue and could use force which might result in a massacre the like of which the nation witnessed in Model Town.
Reaffirming the party’s stance, PAT’s reply further stated that it was practically impossible for thousands of supporters to be physically confined to a specific place.
The reply said that even though the court had not directed the government to remove the encampments, the party believes the administration was planning to use force against innocent people which would result in a massacre.
PM thanks the bar
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday appreciated the Supreme Court Bar Association president Kamran Murtaza for his efforts to uphold Constitution amid the political logjam that has paralysed the nation.
Nawaz also thanked him for filing a petition in the court, seeking to restrain state functionaries from taking any extra-constitutional steps.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 27th, 2014.
A day after the Supreme Court ordered Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters to clear out their Constitution Avenue camps, the court was told that both parties have refused to vacate the area.
As the five-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk resumed hearing the Supreme Court Bar Association president’s petition against the anti-government demonstrations in the capital, the attorney general (AG) informed the court that Imran Khan’s PTI and Tahirul Qadri’s PAT were not willing to shift to an alternate venue.
Both parties are camped outside parliament situated on Constitution Avenue in the heart of Islamabad’s red zone and refused to budge till the prime minister steps down. On Monday, the court gave a 24-hour deadline to PAT and PTI supporters to abandon their Constitution Avenue camps.
Complying with the court’s order, Deputy Attorney General Sajid Ilyas Bhatti submitted a report on the outcome of the meetings held with legal representatives of both parties to discuss the clearance of Constitution Avenue which has been blocked for all kinds of traffic since August 19.
The report states that the meeting was held on Monday in the Pakistan Bar Council Library, where AG Salman Aslam Butt offered both parties an alternate site for the sit-ins. However the offer was rejected.
According to sources privy to the meeting, the attorney general, who represents the government, had offered two locations – the sprawling Sports Complex and the Parade Ground – for protest demonstrations.
On Tuesday, PTI chief’s counsel Ahmad Awais told the AG that the party chairman was not willing to move to another venue.
Meanwhile, Hamid Khan, another attorney representing the PTI chief, informed the court that PTI supporters have not blocked any routes nor were they restricting the flow of traffic in the area.
He stated that the protest was taking place in the Parade Ground, which is away from the parliament and other government buildings in the vicinity. Khan contended that the Parade Ground has not been used for any kind of traffic during the last five years.
Similarly, Barrister Ali Zafar, who was representing PAT chief informed the bench that the party was not willing to shift the demonstrations being staged close to the parliament and would not be able to vacate the site or open the road lanes along Constitution Avenue.
However, Zafar stated that the party leadership would make necessary arrangements for facilitating the flow of traffic along Constitution Avenue.
“In fact they are adamant to continue the sit-in on Constitution Avenue and say that the inconvenience of a handful citizen is nothing compared to the grief and misery of people whose near and dear ones have been killed or injured. People have refused to move from their positions,” the lawyer said.
In its reply, Qadri’s party has also expressed reservations that the government might misuse the court’s orders regarding the clearance of Constitution Avenue and could use force which might result in a massacre the like of which the nation witnessed in Model Town.
Reaffirming the party’s stance, PAT’s reply further stated that it was practically impossible for thousands of supporters to be physically confined to a specific place.
The reply said that even though the court had not directed the government to remove the encampments, the party believes the administration was planning to use force against innocent people which would result in a massacre.
PM thanks the bar
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday appreciated the Supreme Court Bar Association president Kamran Murtaza for his efforts to uphold Constitution amid the political logjam that has paralysed the nation.
Nawaz also thanked him for filing a petition in the court, seeking to restrain state functionaries from taking any extra-constitutional steps.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 27th, 2014.