ISLAMABAD   -  Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday praised the judiciary for taking up the matters of national importance, saying it filled up the gap created by ineffective democratic governments of the recent past.

The prime minister also said the ongoing period was the start of the best era of Pakistan, and he announced that his government was going to reform the legal system through legislation.

Speaking at a conference titled “Alarming growth in population” in Pakistan at Supreme Court building, he said the Supreme Court laid the foundation of Naya Pakistan through Panama Case Judgement, wherein former premier Nawaz Sharif was disqualified as member of the parliament.

The prime minister said the focus of the policies of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government was the downtrodden segments of society and their ideal was state of Madinah.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar in his address said the judiciary of the country stands with the government for realising the dream of Riyasat-e-Madinah.

He asked the prime minister for updating the legal system and providing judiciary the required resources so it could serve the nation better.

The conference was organised by the Law and Justice Commission in collaboration with the Ministry of Health Services.

Justices of the superior judiciary, chief ministers, AJK prime minister, federal ministers, officials, academia, foreign diplomats, delegates, legal fraternity and media persons were present on the occasion.

Advocates, chief ministers, parliamentarians, federal and provincial ministers, religious scholars, members of the civil society also attended the conference.

BISP Chairperson Dr Sania Nishtar, former minister Javed Jabbar, John Bangaarts of Population Growth, and renowned religious scholar Maulana Tariq Jameel also spoke on the occasion. Famous singer Shahzad Roy also presented a theme song on the population issue.

PM Imran Khan in his address said lauded the Supreme Court on delivering the verdict, which completely changed the political scenario of the country.

Naya Pakistan has been the slogan of ruling PTI whose political rival is Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and the Panama Judgment last year was pronounced on petition of Imran Khan who sought disqualification of his political rival Nawaz Sharif.

“With Panama judgment, you [judiciary] laid foundation of Naya Pakistan,” said the prime minister. He added that the Panama Papers case verdict had set the new direction of rule of law in the country as it made a sitting prime minister accountable for the first in the country’s history.

The prime minister said the Panama case also educated him over various other issues, including the reluctance of the accountability institutions to proceed against the sitting premier.

At the outset of his speech, prime minister while looking at Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar said that he is the first ever prime minister who has been invited to such conference.

He said that the current period is the start of the best era of Pakistan in which the judiciary was taking up the matters of water scarcity, population control and others which the democratic government should have done.

Khan said it was unfortunate that the democratic governments during their tenures only think about winning the next elections.

He said that the establishment of furnace-oil based power generation plants in the country was an example of such short-term thinking.

The prime minister also recalled that the construction of Mangla and Tarbela dams during the government of Ayub Khan were good examples of long-term planning. With good education system, effective bureaucracy, the country was moving ahead in the 60s decade, he added.

He recalled that “Kam Bachay Khushhal Ghanara” was a good campaign on population control.

Imran Khan said that the development and progress of a nation is linked to rule of law and democratic values.

He also mentioned democratic history of the world from the Greeks to Roman Empire and referred to the Riasat-e-Madina, which his government was trying to replicate, showed rule of law as the foundation. The rule of law was given so much importance that two of the caliphs had also appeared in the Qazi’s courts, he pointed out.

The prime minister regretted that rule of law in Pakistan could not be ensured in the past as dictators had been trying to become democrats while democratic leaders became dictators.

“The recent Paris conference on environment had set the alarm bells ringing for the third world countries, especially Pakistan which had been severely affected with the global warming and currently ranked as seventh most affected country in the world,” he added.

Recalling his childhood, the prime minister described how beautiful the Lahore city was in the past while now it was fast turning into an abode of concrete and metal structures whereas the River Ravi had been turned into a sewage dump.

The Gilgit-Baltistan used to offer lush green forests with fruit bearing trees but now the growing population was penetrating to those areas as well which was previously inaccessible, he observed.

The prime minister stressed that knowledge about issues like population growth and pollution should be given at the school level.

He said his government was concentrating on some of the urgent issues confronted by the country, including the economy.

All the provincial governments were on board over the population issue as the task forces had been set up, Imran Khan said. The issue required determination as it was half-heartedly tackled by the previous regimes.

“The issue can be effectively addressed if all the stakeholders own it,” he emphasised and cited examples of Bangladesh and Iran where the Ulema played a positive role through the forum of mosques.

Prime Minister Imran Khan said now the world was passing through a digital revolution in which the public could be kept well informed through dissemination of vital information on different issues.

He underlined the importance of prime time TV programmes, as highlighted by former minister Javed Jabbar, to highlight such issues.

PM Khan also acknowledged that the legislation was required to do away with the colonial era legal frameworks like CPC and CrPC.

His government within the first one hundred days had done work in that regard and would soon introduce at least six legal amendments in the parliament over CPC and CrPC, he added.

The prime minister on behalf of the whole nation also appreciated the Chief Justice of Pakistan for taking up human rights issues.

He said it was happening for the first time the Capital Development Authority (CDA) was proceeding with the issue of regularisation of residence of a sitting prime minister, who also has the charge of interior ministry. “Imagining such thing in the past was impossible,” he added.

Premier Khan also struck a note of optimism that the country would soon move past the current financial and economic issues as it was immensely gifted with vast potential.

The foreign investors were eager to invest in Pakistan despite knowing the current difficult phase through which the country was passing, he added.

 CJP speech

Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar in his speech stressed on the government to update the laws and carry out legislations in this regard.

He also drew attention of the prime minister towards provision of adequate resources to the judiciary to meet the present day challenges.

If required laws and resources were made available to the judiciary then unexpected results could be achieved for dispensation of justice, he maintained.

The judiciary was unable to perform its duties for dispensation of justice due to the outdated laws, the CJP said.

“It is the time to shun the boycotts of Parliament and sit together to update the tools (laws),” said chief justice. He added that Parliament is supreme institution and it is Parliament which has to legislate for legal reforms.

Justice Saqib Nisar said that the unchecked population growth entailed disastrous consequences which would further shrink the country’s resources drastically in the coming decades.

He requested the prime minister to look into the issues that prevented construction of dams in the past.

He also regretted that there was no water management system in the country and referred to draining of the aquifers by the bottled companies which were extracting about 7 billion gallons of underground water each year.

He said spread of knowledge and education, besides change in the way of thinking, were imperative for addressing such issues.

The chief justice said the population growth was the most serious issue as after 30 years the country’s population was projected at 450 million.

He stressed the need for raising awareness among the masses for controlling alarming rate of population growth in the country to achieve economic prosperity and raise living standards of the people.

Justice Saqib said Pakistan’s population was projected to double in next 30 years while nothing had been done about this issue during the last 30 years.

He stated: “If we could make sure that our children would have enough to eat, they are healthy, and attend school and their mothers enjoy good health, it would be a great achievement.

“But in the current situation, with our hands tied by severe economic constrains and with our inability to make required transformative investments in human development, we can’t really look upon massive numbers as promising potential and view population growth rate with a sentiment other than alarm.”

The CJP said all the stakeholders, including policy makers, legislators, care providers, civil society activists and religious scholars, must play their role in unison to support responsible parenthood behaviours.

 

PM praises SC for taking up vital national issues

 

 

SYED SABEEHUL HUSSNAIN