The AHRC has started collecting the comments from jurists on the amendment to the constitution to establish military courts and the following is the first interview in the series.
This is a war of religious ideology that cannot be won using force. It is time the government does some soul searching and bury the political hatchet once and for all” said Justice (R) Rasheed A Rizvi President of Sindh High Court Bar Association during the interview. Mr. Rasheed’s view is that the establishment of military courts is against the doctrine of basic the structure and will not prove to be detrimental in the fight against militancy.
Speaking on the issue of ‘Talibanisation’ and rise of militancy he said that “the Government should regularize Madrassahs and other religious schools fueling the Jihadist war. Many factions within the state are either supporting or have a soft corner for these Taliban. Thus they do not and cannot condemn them outright. How can we expect a national policy on terrorism from a divided government?” he asks “Unless all the political parties including the religious parties sit down and develop a consensus independently, and with the best interest of the nation in mind this nation will not win the war against terrorism. We are literally handing out these Taliban a survival license by not framing a national policy”.
Upon being asked to comment on Military Courts, Mr. Rasheed opined that fighting militancy with military courts is not the right thing to do. “These militants are prepared to die, they are not afraid of being executed because they are brainwashed into believing that armed jihad is a one way ticket to heaven. These military courts cannot offer any solution when our real fight is with an ideology; the State needs to root out the mindset that is fuelling hatred in our youth. The factories producing suicide bombers and gun tooting youth must be shut down. We are groping in the dark on our strategic national security policy; the state does not know how to tackle a society so divided on political, sectarian and religious lines. Fatwas are repudiated with more fatwas sunni, barelevi, shia, hanafi scholars issue edicts against each other and no edict issued by one sect is acceptable to other.
Mr Rasheed, speaking on the judiciary says that the judiciary is apparently not in a mood for judicial activism or adventurism “I think Iftikhar M Chaudry is needed now more than ever”. The judges this time might shy from catching the bull with its horns. We fear anarchy like situation in Pakistan and this time no one wants to take the blame for failing to act. Who will they blame if God forbid, the situation deteriorates after two years? The judiciary will be absolved of the crime of acquitting the culprits. The judges don’t want to take the blame for causing hurdles in the administrative action. The parliamentarians have time and again betrayed the people this time they have betrayed the constitution. Who will guarantee the fundamental rights to the people?
Criticizing the Government Justice Mr Rasheed said that the time for action was yesterday and that the establishment and the State have both ignored the menace in the past resultantly the problem has taken a mammoth scale—-a hydra of sorts every time you kill or capture one Taliban three more crop up to replace him. Mr Rasheed went on to state that had Chaudry Iftikhar listened to his plea on the doctrine of basic structure while he was presenting a case before, things might not have come this far. Speaking on the measures that the state should now take, he stated that the army must first cleanse itself of those factions who maintain a soft corner for the Taliban. Secondly the intelligence agencies account should be managed by the Public Accounts Committee to ensure transparency and accountability. He lamented the fact that the judiciary has to bear the brunt of criticism every time a national tragedy hits. The judges alone cannot fix the system if the investigation and prosecution are faulty. Establishing military courts, and citing low conviction rates are not the right approaches. The judges will uphold the principal of due process and will not favor bypassing the due process by way of summary criminal proceedings.”
To a question on future course of action of the Bar he said that the Sindh Bar has decided to maintain a wait-and-see approach, things will become clearer as the dust settles. Justice Rasheed stressed also on the fact that our masses have increasing intolerance to dissent and differences.
