Special Courts to try cases of terrorists’ incidents for limited period
Glorification of terrorism not to be allowed over media
ISLAMABAD, Dec 31 (INP): Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that the parliament and the entire leadership of the country is firmly standing behind national action plan against terrorism and its implementation has begun.
Winding up debate on Peshawar terrorist incident in the Senate Wednesday evening he said sub committees formed to prepare recommendations on twenty points of the national action plan have started submitting their reports and these are being implemented.
The Prime Minister said he is personally reviewing the progress on daily basis.
Mian Nawaz Sharif said priority is being given to devise a system to bring terrorists to justice. For this purpose the national political and military leadership in its meeting on 24th of this month unanimously decided to constitute special courts headed by military officers where cases of only terrorists’ incidents would be tried. There would also be time limited for these special courts.
The Prime Minister said a draft of legal and constitutional amendments has been prepared and expressed the confidence that the parliament would approve them with a view to eliminating the menace of terrorism.
About reservations expressed by PPP’s Mian Raza Rabbani regarding possible misuse of these courts, the Prime Minister said we are passing through an extra-ordinary situation demanding extra-ordinary measures. He pointed out that cases of serious crimes are pending with normal courts for twenty to thirty years.
The Prime Minister said it has been decided that no armed group would be allowed to operate in Pakistan and impose their ideologies on the nation. Similarly banned organizations would not be allowed to operate under any other name in any circumstances.
Mian Nawaz Sharif emphasized that freedom of media and democracy are inter-twined but the national leadership decided that glorification of terrorism would not be allowed.
The Prime Minister said decisions about how to address the menace of terrorism are not being made by an individual but the national leadership and the parliament. He said the proposed measures are aimed at securing life of the people and everything is being done within the ambit of the constitution.
He expressed the confidence that the matchless demonstration of solidarity witnessed on 16th of December would be maintained as any split would damage the cause to wipe out terrorism. He said terrorism has become a bleeding wound and it is time to root it out as it has affected every sphere of life and over fifty thousand Pakistanis have sacrificed their lives in the war against terror. He said the national leadership decided with unanimity that the state should act with full force to eliminate terrorism.
The Prime Minister said how he can deviate from law and the constitution when he struggled for freedom of judiciary. He however said it is question of survival of the nation and safety of our future generations. He said if we did not act now, then the situation would aggravate and would become difficult to handle.
He said no doubt every citizen has fundamental rights but innocent children too have rights including the right of education. He said we cannot allow terrorists to trample rights of innocent children or citizens.
The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction that the entire nation is solidly behind the national action plan and the goal of elimination of terrorism is not far off. He however said the attention of the nation must remain focused on this goal and it should not go on the back burner.
He thanked national political and military leadership for their contribution to the national action plan. In this connection he specifically referred to the work done by the parliamentary committee assigned with the task of formulating recommendations for the national action plan within the stipulated time frame of one week. He also spoke high of leader of the opposition in the Senate Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan for his input in drafting of proposed amendments.
Earlier taking part in the debate Suriya Amiruddin of PPP said Islam exhorts its followers to acquire knowledge but terrorists are targeting schools and students. She said the dastardly act has brought bad name to Pakistan in the comity of nations. She appealed to the nation to get united to fight the menace of terrorism for our secure future.
Syed Zafar Ali Shah of PML (N) said terrorists are sparing no institution and their targeting of Peshawar school united the entire nation. He opposed the establishment of military courts for the trial of terrorists. He said as a civilian cannot be madeCorps Commander, in the same way an army officer cannot be made a judge. He questioned whether people have given mandate to the government for military courts.
Hafiz Hamdullah of JUI (F) regretted that the federal government issued an alert to the provincial authority about possible attack on Army Public School in August but no measures were taken to prevent the tragedy. He said those guilty of dereliction of duties should be held accountable. He said the federal government should make accountable to the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary and IG Police,KPK over their failure to check the attack.
He said the Parliament should also be informed about the decisions taken during the visit of COAS to the United States. He opposed raids on religious institutions.
INP