Bilawal demands new accountability institution which can hold govt, Opp, judiciary and military accountable
\nSyed Moosa Rasan
\nISLAMABAD
\nOpposition parties staged a walkout from the National Assembly on Thursday to protest the government ordinance seeking implementation of International Court of Justice\u2019s (ICJ) last year\u2019s 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.
\nBefore the walkout, a heated debate was held on Jadhav\u2019s issue with opposition accusing the government of trying to give \u201cNRO\u201d (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.
\nKhawaja 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.
\n\u201cA terrorist who has confessed to his involvement in terrorism in our country, against whom we have completed legal proceedings \u2014 what has happened now that we are formally legislating to facilitate him?\u201d Asif asked.
\n\u201cWhen we (PML-N) were in the government, Jadhav was a slur used against us. It was said that Nawaz Sharif was appeasing India,\u201d he said. \u201cWho is appeasing India today?\u201d Asif asked, urging the lawmakers not to pass the law as it was \u201cagainst the national respect and honour\u201d.
\nResponding to Asif\u2019s 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. \u201cWhy did you go to the ICJ then?\u201d she asked.
\n\u201cNow that you have accepted their jurisdiction and they have passed a verdict, we will have to implement it,\u201d the minister said.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cas soon as possible\u201d 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.
\nIn response to Mazari\u2019s speech, Bilawal said: \u201cIf you did not accept the jurisdiction of international courts, it does not mean that you grant an NRO to Jadhav through Pakistan\u2019s law.\u201d
\nThe PPP chief said the government had \u201calready given an NRO\u201d to Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan\u2019s 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\u2019s custody.
\nBilawal said that the \u201copposition\u2019s conscience does not allow\u201d 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.
\nThe 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\u2019s 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.
\nPakistan had invited India to move a review and reconsideration petition against Jadhav\u2019s conviction before the Islamabad High Court, which the Indian government did not file.
\nA day earlier, the government approached the Islamabad HC for appointment of a state counsel for Jadhav, in accordance with the ICJ\u2019s verdict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\u2019s (ICJ) last year\u2019s ruling in the case of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav allowing him […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49342,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-top-news"],"yoast_head":"\n