Word of caution: ‘No single institution can tackle terrorism’

Khosa says if anti-terror laws are flawed, they should be amended

DERA GHAZI KHAN:

“The government cannot hope to curb terrorism by hanging a few terrorism convicts,” said former Punjab governor Latif Khosa on Saturday.

He was addressing lawyers at the annual dinner of the district bar association at the Circuit House. A large number of lawyers and judges were present on the occasion.

District Coordination Officer Nadeemur Rehman and District and Sessions Judge Malik Munsif Awam also addressed the lawyers.

“The nation stood united in the wake of the massacre in Peshawar on December 16,” Khosa said. “A number of meetings were held with various political parties to develop consensus on the policy for tackling terrorism and most parties had had to swallow a bitter pill when they agreed to the formation of military courts.”

He said bypassing the judiciary may prove dangerous for the country.

“The Pakistan Peoples Party will not allow military courts for political purposes,” he said. “Terrorism cannot be rooted out by letting one institution of the state handle it.”



He said if there were flaws in ant-terrorism laws, they should be amended.

“If a constitutional amendment can be approved in a few days, surely the government can also amend laws,” he said.

He said the prosecutors should improve investigations for trial of terrorism suspects. He said the government should provide protection to the judges of anti-terrorism courts so that they could do their job without fear.

He said the government and the military should work together to curb terrorism.

“All political parties in the country stood by the prime minister when he announced the 21-point agenda for tackling terrorism,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the government is unwilling to focus on governance,” he added.

He said the PPP always struggled for the rights of the people. “After amending the constitution, the government should assure the people of Pakistan that citizens would not be targeted,” he said.

“The country can only become strong if it has established democratic values in the society,” he said.

He said the government would be held accountable if military courts were not disbanded in two years.

“By that time, the damage done to movements for democracy may beyond repair” he said. He urged lawyers to continue to struggle for supremacy of the law.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2015.