Bilawal demands new accountability institution which can hold govt, Opp, judiciary and military accountable
Syed Moosa Rasan
ISLAMABAD
Opposition parties staged a walkout from the National Assembly on Thursday to protest the government ordinance seeking implementation of International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) last year’s ruling in the case of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav allowing him to file a review petition against his conviction and sentence by a military court here.
Before the walkout, a heated debate was held on Jadhav’s issue with opposition accusing the government of trying to give “NRO” (National Reconciliation Order) to Indian spy through the ordinance, while the treasury blamed the former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) government for opting to go to the International Court during its tenure.
Khawaja Asif, a PML-N stalwart and former foreign minister, asked why the government was facilitating someone who had confessed to his role in promoting unrest and terrorism in Pakistan.
“A terrorist who has confessed to his involvement in terrorism in our country, against whom we have completed legal proceedings — what has happened now that we are formally legislating to facilitate him?” Asif asked.
“When we (PML-N) were in the government, Jadhav was a slur used against us. It was said that Nawaz Sharif was appeasing India,” he said. “Who is appeasing India today?” Asif asked, urging the lawmakers not to pass the law as it was “against the national respect and honour”.
Responding to Asif’s speech, human rights minister Shireen Mazari said both Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had opposed the then PML-N government to contest the case in the ICJ after India took it there. “Why did you go to the ICJ then?” she asked.
“Now that you have accepted their jurisdiction and they have passed a verdict, we will have to implement it,” the minister said.
PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, also criticised the government for passing the ordinance in May without informing anyone. He pointed out that the rules and laws stated that an ordinance must be presented in parliament “as soon as possible” if it is promulgated when the house is in session. Both the houses (NA and senate) were in session during the month of June, he said.
In response to Mazari’s speech, Bilawal said: “If you did not accept the jurisdiction of international courts, it does not mean that you grant an NRO to Jadhav through Pakistan’s law.”
The PPP chief said the government had “already given an NRO” to Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan’s spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan, who had admitted his role in the Army Public School massacre that took place in 2014. The interior minister had admitted earlier this year that Ehsan had escaped from Pakistan’s custody.
Bilawal said that the “opposition’s conscience does not allow” to let the session continue with the ordinance on its agenda and pointed out lack of quorum, prompting the speaker to adjourn proceedings of the house.
The ICJ (Review and Reconsideration) Ordinance 2020, which was promulgated on May 20, gives foreign citizens convicted in Pakistan to file a review appeal in the country’s courts. The ordinance was promulgated after ICJ, in its verdict last year, ruled that Pakistan grant consular access to Jadhav and allow him to file a review appeal.
Pakistan had invited India to move a review and reconsideration petition against Jadhav’s conviction before the Islamabad High Court, which the Indian government did not file.
A day earlier, the government approached the Islamabad HC for appointment of a state counsel for Jadhav, in accordance with the ICJ’s verdict.
