Lawyers’ community join hands with PAT for justice in Model Town case

Addressing an All-Pakistan Lawyers Convention here in Lahore on Thursday, PAT Chairman Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri has said that in the fight for justice for the oppressed, both PTI and PPP will stand with him on his right and left, whereas Jamat-e-Islami, MWM, PML-Q and other political parties will also be part of caravan for justice. He said that we have been greatly encouraged by expression of solidarity by the legal fraternity on the issue of justice for the martyrs of Model Town massacre. He said that PAT and its leadership is grateful to the lawyers for their unqualified and unwavering support.

Dr Qadri said that the Speaker of the National Assembly hinted at some plan being made to oust the government in his recent TV interview. He said there is no plan in the pipeline. It is just that the nature has started taking a greater revenge upon the elite for its role in massacring innocent people. He said that we already staged two sit-ins and if third sit-in were to be staged, it will prove to be final and conclusive in a long drawn out fight for justice. He said that the names of the killers are written clearly on every page of Justice Najafi Commission.

A five-point resolution, moved by senior lawyer Rai Bashir Ahmad, was unanimously adopted in All-Pakistan Lawyers Convention, which read as:

1. Today’s Lawyers Convention demands that after Najafi Commission report has held Shehbaz Sharif and Rana Sanaullah directly responsible for Model Town massacre, they should step down immediately and surrender themselves to law. The Chief Minister is on record as having stated that if a finger was pointed at him, he would immediately resign from his position.
2. The bureaucrats and government officials who are involved in planning, and execution of Model Town tragedy should be made to step down from their positions till the decision of the case and they should be handed over to law.
3. All the accused in the Model Town case should be arrested and sent to jail like other ordinary accused. They should be meted out treatment based on equality of law.
4. A powerful and neutral JIT on the pattern of Panama JIT should be formed to hold a fresh probe into the massacre. A judge of the SC or High Court should be appointed as the monitoring judge to oversee the investigation like the SC tasked one of its judges to monitor the corruption cases against the Sharif family.
5. All the accused should be arrested and the murder weapons should be retrieved from them after getting their physical remand followed by submission of a detailed report to the court under Clause no 573 of CPC.

Lahore High Court Bar Association and Lahore Bar Association extended their full support to the resolution. Rashid Javed Lodhi, Azhar Siddique Advocate, Amir Saeed Raan, Pervaiz Inayat Malik, Pir Masood Chishti, Lehrasib Gondal, Hassam-ud-Din Khan, Farhan Mustafa Jafri, Chaudhry Qamar Shahid, Mian Afzal Hayat, Rafaqat Ali Qadri, Haji Shahid Iqbal, and Zamir Hussain were among the special guests at the occasion.

Khurram Nawaz Gandapur presented the welcome address. Dr Hassan Mohi-ud-Din Qadri, Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri, Fayyaz Warraich, Basharat Jaspal and others were also present on the occasion.

Renowned lawyer Ahmad Owaid, former president of Lahore High Court Bar, said in his speech that he saw the drops of blood on every page of Justice Najafi Commission report. He said that the operation was not carried out to remove barriers but to crush the movement of Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri. He said that Justice Najafi was stopped from writing the names of culprits. He said that Rana Sanaullah is at the helm of spreading lawlessness in the province. He said that we have participated in the convention with the resolve to get justice for the victims. He said that Pakistan was achieved for supremacy of law. He said that we have got together on the single point agenda of elimination of oppression. He said that lawyers would not budge an inch even if they have to lay down their lives for the accountability of the oppressors. He said that the oppressors are both corrupt and cowards as well, stating that Justice Baqir Najafi upheld the banner of truth.

Justice (r ) Javed Nawaz Gandapur, former SC judge and senior advocate, spoke at the convention and said that Justice Baqir Najafi has diagnosed the ailment like an expert of cancer and told in crystal clear terms as to who is responsible for the massacre. He said that the cure to this ailment will not be possible through Band-Aid approach but through major surgery.

Arshad Jahangir Jhojha Advocate, while addressing the convention, said that there is no ambiguity in Justice Najafi Commission report. He said that it remains to be seen as to how the responsible are punished. He said that peace will not come unless the oppressors get punished. He asked the legal community to formulate a comprehensive strategy to get justice for the oppressed and the weak.

Addressing the convention, Justice (r ) Pervez Inayat said that he does not have the courage to see oppression that was committed in Model Town. He said that societies, polities and states that are bereft of justice are destroyed. He said that Justice Najafi report, FIR and private complaint should be grouped together and a fresh investigation should be launched to arrive at facts. He said that PPP has stood by the oppressed right from day one, adding that the party co-chairman has also ordered the party in this regard. He said that off-spring of General Zia-ul-Haq has only learnt to oppress.

Azhar Siddique Advocate, while addressing the convention, said that sobbing of the oppressed goes right up to heavens. He said that today’s Pharaohs are being humiliated. He said that we need an enlightened leadership that has an understanding of modern politics and religion. He said that the report has proven that Model Town incident was an act of terrorism and oppression, stating that the barriers were legally placed. He said that the elite, government and state are clashing with each other.

Former Provincial Minister Ghulam Abbas also spoke on the occasion and stated that in a state in which FIR of a massacre is registered on the intervention of no less than an Army Chief but still no justice is dispensed, the decisions there are taken on the roads. He said that the whole nation wants justice in the Model Town case.

Pir Masood Chishti said in his speech that Model Town tragedy is the worst example of state terrorism. Farhan Mustafa Jafri said that the whole legal community is with Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri on his demand for justice for the Model Town victims. He said that the perpetrators of Model Town tragedy should meet their logical end.

Aamir Raan Advocate, Secretary of Lahore High Court Bar Association, stated in his remarks that we have got tired of hearing the names of the killers. He said that Dr Qadri should give a call for a movement so that they are held responsible for their crimes against humanity. He said that High Court Bar and the lawyers of the whole country will be with him.

Addressing the convention, Rashid Javed Lodhi, vice president Lahore High Court Bar Association, said that the fight for the oppressed of Model Town will now be fought by the black coats. He said that those who showered bullets probably thought that they will be able to protect their power but added in the same breath that they appear to be on the slippery slope in every way today. He said that the oppressed did not get justice for three and half years, is it what we call a society and a polity? He said that commissions do not mention names, they only gather facts. He said that after Jallianwala Bagh, Model Town tragedy is the second incident of state terrorism.

Ishtiaq Chaudhry and MH Shaheen conducted the proceedings of the convention as masters of ceremony. A documentary was shown in the convention in which the police could be seen unleashing worst terror on innocent people. The eyes of the lawyers welled up after watching the scenes of horrible crime against humanity.

Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri stated in his concluding remarks that whatever has been written in the unanimously approved resolution constitutes our demands. He said that the Speaker National Assembly has been disappointed now but we have been disappointed with this brand of politics which is based on oppression of the elite and oppressive and corrupt system for many decades. He said that the police employed brute force not to remove barriers but to crush and eliminate the peaceful movement. He said that the political elite murdered morality, democracy, humanity, nobility, and truth during their stints in office. He said that all political forces of the country such as PPP, PTI, JI, MWM, PML-Q, PSP, SIC are on the same page in the struggle for justice.