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Govt committed to Islamic system of justice: Ranjha

Recorder Report

Lahore: Punjab Law Minister Dr. Khalid Ranjah has said that the government is committed to rule of law and the foundation of a society which is based on the Islamic principle of justice and equality.

He was speaking at a seminar '21st Century and Pakistan' at Alhamra Arts Council here on Thursday. "Islam stands for Nizam-i-Adl and the present government is endeavoring hard to achieve this goal" he said.

The existing system had failed to deliver good, therefore, a surgical operation needed to bring it in harmony with the injunctions of Islam, he said.

He said that the existing system was based on discrimination and exploitation and provides protection to the privileged class, while there was no such concept in a true Islamic state.

He said that the present government believed in the rule of law, and in his view, a government that did not believe in it, could not be a representative government of people. It was unfortunate, he maintained, that the successive regimes converted this rule of law in what he called the 'rule of rulers'.

He said that the government had decided not to file any appeal against the Supreme Court judgment on Riba, which was an ample proof of its firm believe in Shariah.

He blamed the successive governments for destroying the national institutions. About the military take-over of October 12, he said that it was an `institutional reaction against an institution. "After conquering the judiciary, the previous rulers wanted to subjugate the institution of army, which resulted in fall of their government," he said.

Former Federal Law Minister Raza Rabbani said that Pakistan needed a strong and sound economy to meet he challenges of the 21st century. For this purpose, it would have to get rid of the debt trap, he added.

He said that it was a wrong perception that only the politicians were responsible for destroying economy of the country. The civil and military bureaucracy were equally responsible for it, he alleged. He said that the total debt of the country that was Rs 800 million during Ayub regime, touched Rs 2 billion mark in General Yahya regime. The figure increased to Rs 5.5 billion during the last days of Bhutto Regime while it crossed Rs 270 billion mark during General Zia's era.

Commenting on the accountability process, the former law minister said that the present government was defaming and victimizing the politicians in the name of accountability process. He said that he was not against accountability but its scope should be expanded to all segments of society.

He also stressed the need for early restoration of democratic process and re-constitution of Council of Common Interests.

Rasool Baksh Pleejo said that a liberal democratic system was the only solution of the problems of the people of Pakistan. He said it was unfortunate that since its creation, Pakistan had never been politically and economically an independent state. "If we want to progress, we will have to give equal economic rights to the people without any discrimination," he stated.

Deputy Speaker of the suspended NWFP Assembly, Haji Mohammad Adeel, Bishop of Multan, Dr. Andrew Francis, Saeed Ahmed Kirmani and Irshad Ahmed Haqqani also spoke on the occasion.