Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said yesterday that he was determined to go ahead with the option of military courts even though “I have a lurking suspicion that one day I, too, could face such a forum”.
“This fear cannot make me forget the schoolchildren massacred by terrorists in Peshawar,” Mr Sharif said.
The prime minister, who was forced by the opposition to make a rare appearance in the Senate to wind up the discussion on military courts, was replying to a question by PPP’s Raza Rabbani.
Mr Rabbani had recalled that setting up of military courts in 1977 and 1998 had eventually led to the removal of the prime minister.
The prime minister said the constitutional and legal framework for setting up speedy trial courts, to be led by army officers, was ready for presenting before parliament. “We are doing it within the ambit of the constitution and cannot even think of deviating from the constitution and the law.”
Nawaz Sharif said one should rise above his person and think about the nation. “Extraordinary circumstances demand extraordinary steps,” he said, adding that armed militias could not be allowed to roam freely and pose a threat to Pakistan and other countries.
Mr Sharif said as chief executive of the country, it was his duty to find a solution to the menace of terrorism. If meaningful action was delayed today, the opportunity would be lost forever, he warned.
“The campaign against terrorism will go on as long as even one terrorist is alive,” Mr Sharif said.
He also said that, “there were cases of serious nature which remained pending in courts for two to three decades. It was an obligation for all to think about horrific and filthy environment created by terrorists, he said and referred to the recent terrorist attack at Karachi airport and a blast at Wagah border. The idea of establishing military courts was for protection and betterment of the nation. Society could not be turned into a jungle for protection of fundamental rights of terrorists”
“The focus of the nation should remain on fighting terrorism.” He added.
