ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday requested the Supreme Court to find out those responsible for the 80,000 martyrs of the war on terror who also had parents, having the same grief as the parents of the martyrs of Army Public School (APS).
On Wednesday, the court while hearing the case, summoned Prime Minister Imran Khan on a short notice after Attorney General Khalid Javed informed the court that the court last order of Oct 20 was not dispatched to the prime minister and he will be informed. The court had asked attorney general to call prime minister after court interval. Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed said that they will talk to the prime minister adding that lots of money is being spent on intelligence but the result is zero. The chief justice asked as to whether cases were registered against former army chief and other responsible persons? The AG however replied that there was no findings in the inquiry report against the former army chief and former DG ISI.
Later on Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived at Supreme Court along with Federal Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain. Prime Minister Imran Khan told the court that there are no holy cows in Pakistan adding that he believes in rule of law and supremacy of the constitution adding that he will abide by the court’s order and will take action.
The chief justice however, told the prime minister that the parents of children, killed in the incident are not asking for any help but questioned the security lapse. “What we could do, we have done and compensated the affected families”, the PM told the court adding that earlier he had met the bereaved families and will again meet them. “But the court should also inquire as to how and why 80,000 people of the country were killed in terrorism and who were responsible for 480 drone attacks,” the PM said. “You are the prime minister and it’s your job to inquire about it and being a prime minister you should have the answers to all these queries,” the Chief Justice told the prime minister.
Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed while addressing the prime minister said that according to media reports, he is negotiating with TTP. “Whether we are bringing the TTP back to the negotiating table instead of taking action against them and are we going to surrender once again,” Justice Qazi Amin asked the prime minister. “Pakistan is not a small country but has the sixth largest army in the world,” Justice Amin told the premier. The prime minister however, said that he should be given a chance to speak and he can explain the points raised by the court. The Chief Justice observed that they have nothing to do with the prime minister's policy decisions but would like to know why the culprits of the massacre could not be traced even after years of the attack. The protection of the people is the responsibility the state as enshrined in the constitution,” the CJP remarked.
The prime minister however, said that if the court is worried about the heirs of martyrs of APS than they are also worried about those 80,000 martyrs of the war on terror, as he said these martyrs also had parents, having the same grief as parents of martyrs of Army Public School. Imran said that from the day one, he was against of involvement in the proxy war. We have made Mujahideen, and Musharaf joined the war and took action against the Mujahideen and killed 80,000 people. “Neither we had any role in 9/11 nor any Pakistanis was involved in it,” Imran said
The prime minister said that in order to improve National Action Plan, National Coordination Plan has been made. He said to cope with the possible security threats all our security agencies were taking effective measures. Imran Khan further told the court that after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan Daesh, TTP and Baloch separatists came to Pakistan adding that after the fall of Afghanistan to Taliban, some 2,50,000 people went abroad through Pakistan adding that among these people, terrorists also fled the war-torn country. At this the chief justice observed that what they have understood so far was that measures were being taken for the future but nothing concrete done.
Imran however, said that threats are there due to the Afghan situation and we have to understand it. Justice Ijazul Ahsen, another member of the bench observed that they think that the problems are current that’s why the court had given some names to the government and had asked the Attorney General to seek instructions from the government in this regard.
We want assurances that you will take action for the comfort of parents of martyrs of APS,” Justice Ahsen told the prime minister. The prime minister assured the court the government will ensure proper justice and those who are responsible or failed to discharge their duties will be proceeded with.
After the prime minister’s assurance, the court directed the government to take action after hearing to the stance of the parents of martyrs children of APS. The court directed that its order passed on October 20 must be implemented in letter and spirit and submit a progress report with prime minister's signatures and adjourned further hearing for four weeks.
