Legal forum terms BD executions as judicial killings

Lahore: Eminent speakers addressing a lawyers forum at the Lahore High Court Bar on Monday have termed the executions of the Jamaat e Islami leaders in Bangladesh as judicial killings and also condemned the criminal silence of the Pakistan government on the issue.

The conference which was organized by the Islamic Lawyers Movement (ILM) , observed that the silence of Islamabad on the executions of those showing their loyalty to this country and the Pakistan Ideology had lowered the citizens’ heads in shame.

The speakers however said that the two hundred millions Pakistanis saluted these martyrs for sacrificing their lives for the cause of this country and resolved that the lawyers’ community of the country would forward a resolution to the government in this regard.

Ameer, Jamaat e Islami, Pakistan, Senator Sirajul Haq, was the chief guest at the conference. The speakers included Railways Minister Khwaja Saad Rafiq, PTI leader and former Punjab Governor Ch. Muhammad Sarwar, Justice (RTD) Hafiz Abdur Rahman Ansari, Secretary,Supreme Court Bar Association, Asad Manzur Butt, senior journalist Salman Ghani, and Ch.

Khalid Farooq advocate. ILM President Rana Zia Abdul Rahman, presided over the conference.

In his address, Sirajul Haq said that the only crime of Maulana Motiur Rahman Nizami was that he supported a united Pakistan and had refused to support the conspiracies of the Indian army and the Mukti Bahini to break this country.

The JI chief saluted Turkish government for withdrawing its envoy from Bangladesh in protest over the execution of Maulana Nizami and for by naming one of Turkey’s highways after Maulana Nizami. He said that by doing so, the Turkish government had given a message to their younger generation that they were honouring an individual who had laid down his life for his country and its ideology. On the other hand, he said, the rulers in Islamabad had been taking the stance that the trials of JI leaders were the internal affair of Bangladesh.

Sirajul Haq said that if the government did not change its attitude, thousands of men and women presently in Bangladesh jails would also be subjected to torture and unjust trials,and the BD government could also move the international forums for handing over around 16o Pak army officers who had fought for the security and unity of Pakistan in 1971.

Sirajul Haq condemned the US threats to Pakistan. He said the JI did not want a war with US but it was not ready to accept slavery. He said the rulers in Islamabad should refuse to accept US dictation for a few dollars and refuse to release CIA agent Shakil Afridi.

Khwaja Saad Rafiq said it was true that the Foreign office had not raised an effective voice against the war crimes trials in Bangladesh. He said that the executions of the JI leaders were not the issue of the JI only, this was an issue of national honour. He said that Hasina Wajid government in Bangladesh was advancing her personal agenda even at the cost of Bangladesh’s national interests. He said that the government would take up the issue in the light of the tripartite agreement with the world forums and try to secure the support of the world community to stop the injustice and killings going on in Bangladesh.

Ch. Muhammad Sarwar said that apart from the government, the society as a whole should have taken up this issue forcefully at the world forums and British and European assemblies.

Justice Rtd Abdur Rahman Ansari said that Hasina Wajid government was executing elderly citizens by exploiting the black laws. He said that the execution of Maulana Motiur Rahman Nizami had revived the memories of the martyrdoms of Syed Hasan al Banna and Syed Qutab Shaheed.