Entire Sindh PA will go to jail if any ppp leader convicted: Mirza
ISLAMABAD: Home Minister Sindh Zulfiqar Mirza has said if one or two members of the Sindh Assembly from the PPP are made target and convicted, the entire Sindh Assembly will go to jail voluntarily. He said this while talking to media men here outside the Supreme Court on Friday.
The PPP had always respected the courts, he held. The PPP leader accepted the gallows by honouring the decisions of the court, he maintained.Asif Ali Zardari is the president of Pakistan, he said adding the decision for observing the strike was the decision of the people of Sindh. The people of Sindh be not treated like Bengalis, he underlined.
“We had made Pakistan,” he added. As to why the SC does not take suo motu notice of target killings, he said. “We have come here to express solidarity with our associates.” If Sharjeel Memon had committed contempt of court, then the entire Sindh Assembly had committed it, he stated.
Justice (retd) Deedar Hussain Shah was an honest person and he was cent percent eligible for the post of NAB chairman, Mirza said, adding Deedar Hussain was sacked for the sake of some persons. It was a matter of regret that the judge who talked of executing Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto now acknowledges that Bhutto was hanged to save the Ziaul Haq regime, he held.
“My head hangs in shame when I see the picture of this judge in Room No 1 of Supreme Court,” he said. “We have made former president Pervez Musharraf flee and not the Supreme Court,” he stated.
APP adds: Zulfiqar Mirza said the walls of the Supreme Court still remember those people who had attacked it and the judges at that time had to run from their chambers to save their lives. He said that they had always respected the superior judiciary and offered sacrifices for it.
Regarding a past verdict against the PPP founding father Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, he said Justice retired Naseem Hassan Shah himself admitted that they had convicted Bhutto though he was innocent. He said it was deplorable that his photograph was still hanging inside theCourtroom No 1 of the Supreme Court.
Mirza said: “We have great respect for the judiciary, but we also remember that judges of this Court awarded capital punishment to the first democratically-elected Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was innocent and had committed no crime.”
Regarding the Friday’s proceedings, he lauded the Supreme Court and remarked: “For the first time, we feel that it is also our Court.”
“The chief justice has acknowledged himself that democracy thrived due to the sacrifices of the PPP. We thank the CJ for his gracious remarks and we expect justice from his court. The Court’s behaviour was very congenial,” he said.
About the strike call in Sindh against the Supreme Court’s decision, he said it was a reflection of the sentiments of the entire provincial population. “We only called the strike to register our concerns before the historians with the objective that we are not silent over our rights,” he added.
He said they had accompanied their provincial leaders to show solidarity in Friday’s proceedings and would stand by them. While responding to another query, he said the Sindh Police have arrested target killers and registered FIRs. He said that they had arrested a killer who admitted murdering alone more than 100 people in Karachi and his name would be disclosed soon. He questioned as to why the Supreme Court was not taking cognisance of the target killing incidents taking place in Karachi.
Member of the Sindh Assembly and former provincial information secretary Shazia Marri said they did not adopt any resolution against the superior judiciary and the respected judges but they used their democratic right to criticise the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.
Talking to APP on Friday in the Supreme Court building before the hearing of the contempt issue, she said they deemed it fit to criticise biased attitude of a leader of the PML-N towards a smaller province.
She said: “We being legislators are very much alive to the Contempt of Court Ordinance, which now stands as part of the 18th Amendment.”
The record was available and there was not even a single word uttered against any judge during the assembly session, she said.
Marri said they had great respect for the judiciary and their leaders like Shaheed Benazir Bhutto used to appear before the courts.
When a decision was made, it became a public property and open to criticism, she added.
Ayaz Soormo, Sindh Law Minister, opined that they kept the superior judiciary and the Chief Justice of Pakistan in high esteem.
About 61 PPP members of the Sindh Assembly and 12 ministers were present during the proceedings. Presidential spokesman Farhatullah also witnessed the proceedings.
The chief justice, during the course of hearing, acknowledged that they were thankful to them (referring to the presence of PPP MPAs) for maintaining the decorum of the courtroom.
Streaks of smile ran over the faces of almost all the people present during the proceedings when Justice Muhammad Sair Ali in a light vein passed remarks about senior counsel Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, who represented the Sindh government.
The same atmosphere was also maintained outside the Courtroom and inside the Supreme Court building. Outside the Supreme Court building, huge contingents of police and Rangers were deployed but no untoward incident took place.
Meanwhile, talking to media persons after the hearing, PPP Sindh Information Secretary Sharjeel Memon said there was no question of contempt of court as the party and its leaders always have great respect for the judiciary.
Responding to a number of questions, he said hearing of the case was held in a cordial atmosphere and “the Chief Justice of Pakistan was very kind enough”.
To a question about tendering an unconditional apology, Sharjeel Memon said, “I did not commit any contempt of court and there is no question of apology.”
Regarding the strike in the province of Sindh after the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Chairman National Accountability Bureau Justice (retd) Syed Deedar Hussain Shah, Sharjeel Memon said it was a call for a peaceful strike and that was our right.
When asked about the killing of citizens during the strike, he made it clear that target killing of six or seven persons has become routine in Karachi, which must be stopped and the same happened during the strike call. “It is my request that do not attribute it to the strike call,” he said.
The Pakistan People’s Party has sacrificed its precious lives for the restoration of the judiciary and “we are committed to the independence of judiciary”.
Taj Haider, Sindh PPP general secretary, responding to mediamen’s queries, said all the proceedings were held in the open court in the presence of media persons and there was not an air of confrontation.
When asked to comment about the proceedings held on Friday in the Courtroom, he said the matter is sub judice and declined to comment further. When repeatedly asked about his comments, he said “How can I comment on the proceedings of the court!”
To another question, he categorically denied using objectionable words against the judiciary. “I have respect for the judiciary and will have the same in future,” he emphasised.
Source: The News
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