LAHORE                   -              PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Tuesday declared that Lahore High Court was part of the crime scene of Bhutto Shaheed’s judicial murder. He added that the nation still awaited justice in the cases of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.

“We expect justice from the judiciary even today,“ he said while addressing the Lahore High Court Bar Association at Lahore High Court premises.

Bilawal said that certain judges had in the past sullied their offices by taking dictation from the PPP’s opponents. A judicial reference against Bhutto’s murder is still pending in the court today, he gave a reminder.

“I ask the bar and the bench to give justice to Bhutto Shaheed. If Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto do not get justice, where would the common man go?” he asked.

PPP leader said that dictator Zia Ul Haq ended the PPP government with bloodshed and violated the constitution. The most popular PM was assassinated by a fraud judicial process, he said, adding that Zia Ul Haq jailed and killed thousands of PPP workers. He said political activists and lawyers were punished under the court martial. He added that entire aim of Zia and Musharraf’s dictatorships was to infringe the constitution and corrupt the country’s institutions and systems.

He went on to say that the same Lahore High Court passed judgments against Shaheed BB and Asif Ali Zardari in fake cases taking dictation on phone calls. He said that courts have used Suo Moto in the past to misuse it. The Bar and the Bench should review the mechanisms of appealing Suo Moto decisions, he demanded.

Bilawal said that the first target of dictatorial forces had always been the rule of law. “We fought the dictatorships of Ayub, Zia, Yahya and Musharraf with the bars at our side. The Lahore High Court Bar is a bar that has served as the vanguard in the struggle against dictators,” he remarked.

The PPP Chairman said that democracy in Pakistan was connected with the freedom of expression of human rights. “A lawyer, Quaid-e Azam, struggled for and won us Pakistan. Unfortunately, his untimely demise meant Pakistan went along without a constitution for decades. Another lawyer, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto gave Pakistan its first constitution on 14th August 1973. It was due to immense struggle by Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto that the Parliament has been held country’s supreme institution,” he affirmed.

Bilawal said that the PPP government always struggled for and maintained the dominance of the Constitution and the Parliament. “PPP wants women judges to be in the higher judiciary as well. Of the 106 High Court judges, only 6 are female judges,” he lamented.

He noted that it was sad that despite Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto appointing five woman judges to the High Courts, no women judges have been elevated to the Supreme Court. He mentioned that access to justice was cornerstone of the rule of law. He stressed that access to justice for the marginalized and oppressed should be made possible.

Bilawal said that justice for the victims of sexual violence should also be dispensed speedily. He said that under the current “selected and imposed” government, people were witnessing a neo-dictatorship. He added that Pakistan was in the throes of fascism and peoples’ fundamental rights were being ripped away.

“The current regime has picked up where Zia and Musharraf left off, and let us be very clear, they will not stop,” deplored Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. He urged upon the people to join his struggle for the economic and democratic rights of the people.