ISLAMABAD: State Minister for Information, Broadcasting, National History and Literary Heritage Aurangzeb has sai
d that all consti
tutional insti
tutions must function within consti
tutional limits in a dignified manner without any interference.
Speaking in the National Assembly on Tuesday, the minister sai
d that th
e Consti
tution of Pakistan had three pillars and the parliament was one of them, adding that all the insti
tutions owed their existence to th
e Consti
tution, which was choreographed by the parliament.
She sai
d that the debate initiated by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in the National Assembly yesterday had strengthened Pakistan legally and consti
tutionally and even the opposition leader had observe
d that this debate should have been unleashed long ago.
Marriyum sai
d that the judiciary commanded respect because it was custodian of the law and th
e Consti
tution and a protector and guarantor of the dignity and honour of the citizens. She sai
d that the prestige and honour of the court was not vitiated by uttering of one sentence by somebody.
She sai
d that giving the epithet of godfather and Sicilian mafia to an elected prime minister was a negation of the mandate of the people. An elected prime minister was sent home with one stoke of the pen but a person who consigned th
e Consti
tution to the waste paper basket was not arraigned in the court, she added.
Marriyum sai
d that Nawaz Sharif was not only a name but an ideology and a passion that had penetrated in the hearts of the masses from Peshawar to Karachi. She sai
d that Nawaz Sharif represented an ideology for the sanctity of vote and voice of the people which could not be suppressed. She reiterate
d that the flag of the sanctity of vote would keep flying against all odds.
The minister observe
d that they first sent the prime minister home and were now trying to ferret out incriminating evidence. She sai
d that Nawaz had raised voice for the sanctity of vote and connected the people of Pakistan with each other. He was a road-map for the revival of the public opinion an
d that was the reason he was followed by millions of people where ever he went and were raising slogans of non-acceptance of the verdict for his
disqualification, she added.
She sai
d that Nawaz had morphed into voice of the people which should be heard attentively. She sai
d that the former prime minister had launched a movement for the restoration of the judiciary and now was running a campaign for restoration of justice.
The minister sai
d that everyone, including the state insti
tutions, had committed mistakes, adding that it should also be accepte
d that the registration of a case for the theft of buffalo was a mistake; expressing elation ov
er the execution of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was also a mistake; taking oath from a dictator und
er the doctrine of necessity, PCO and LFO were also a mistake and a sin. She sai
d that everybody knew the path that the country had traversed during the last 70 years and it was the right moment to ponder wheth
er the next 70 years were also to be spent mourning ov
er the past mistakes and throwing th
e Consti
tution into the waste paper basket? She observe
d that there was an imperative need to use their collective wisdom to set a right direction for the country.
She sai
d that democracy was not the name of a product or the by-election in Lodhran, but it was a process and a political behavior. She sai
d that democracy entailed freedom of expression and the insti
tutions showing subservience to the law and Consti
tution.
Published in Daily Times, February 21st 2018.