BAHAWALPUR
Highlighting grave plight of the internally displaced persons due to operation Zarb-e-Azb, the Jamaat-e-Islami Punjab ameer has expressed grave concern over the passing of “Tahaffuz-e-Pakistan” Bill in the National Assembly, and said that it has anti-human rights provisions.
Dr Wasim Akhtar said that if it was enforced as law after passing from the Senate, every citizen would become unprotected. He said that a number of cases were already in the court regarding missing persons, and the number would increase with the passing of the bill. To shoot a suspicious person, only a grade-15 official’s permission is required which is condemnable as the secret agencies could take anyone into custody for 60 days on the basis of suspicion, he said. Such laws would only spread anarchy and lawlessness in the country, he said.
He said that the bill had completely changed the basic philosophy of the law. “Many laws were made in the past but due to the lack of interest of the rulers, could not be implemented properly as a result of which the situation had worsened. Throughout the world, accused persons are given the opportunity to be heard but under the new law, the police and other law-enforcement agencies will be able to use traditional tactics to implicate anyone in fake cases,” he said.
He feared that it would produce only negative results. He demanded that the government should reconsider the decision to enforce it.
He further said that problem of internally displaced persons had become critical as hundreds of thousands of people had been displaced, thousands of families were still trapped in North Waziristan because they did not have money to travel to safer areas.
The JI leader said that countless people of North Waziristan were facing many problems due to the situation and they asked why they had been forced to leave their homes in Ramazan. He said that history was evident that operations had only brought negative results. He urged the government the hold the operation in abeyance during the holy month and let the people go back to their homes.
He said that after the 9/11 attacks, America and India had kept Pakistan busy in the state of war through conspiracy. “Pakistan needs to farewell the American war. The whole nation wants peace in tribal areas, Balachistan and Karachi and it possible only though negotiations,” he said.
He further said that before the start of Waziristan operation, he government did not take the parliament and the nation into confidence. He demanded that the government should immediately stop the operation so that the “enemies of the state” could not succeed in their motives.