The scheduled sit-in protest called by Head JUI-F and Chief PDM outside supreme court on 15 may Monday is another political show going to happen in Pakistan with PDM president Moulana Fazal Rahman demanding resignation of chief Justice of Pakistan supreme court Justice Umar Atta Bandiyal
The ruling alliance of 13 political parties is all set to hold a sit-in outside the Supreme Court on Monday to protest the judiciary’s “undue facilitation” to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.
With PML-N and PPP also deciding to join the sit-in on Monday in the red zone, the trust gap between SC and the ruling government is going to deteriorate further. Although the government has asked the PDM president to avoid protest outside the supreme court citing security reasons, Moulana Fazl Ur Rahman has been stubborn and has denied the request of the government.
Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure has been imposed in Islamabad a week ago head of planned rallies by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in solidarity with Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial but government has allowed the protest of its close ally and PDM head to march towards Islamabad.
The protest sit-in coincided with the hearing of the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) plea asking the apex court to revisit its order of holding elections to the Punjab Assembly on May 14. The petition will be heard a day after the court-ordered election deadline lapses.
The security of the top court is the responsibility of the ruling government but they themselves are marching towards capital from all provinces, however SC Registrar had called a meeting of the Islamabad administration to chalk out a security plan and arrangements in view of Monday’s sit-in. Unfortunately no other officer, except for the Islamabad deputy commissioner, showed up at the meeting. The SC registrar expressed grave concerns and directed the deputy commissioner to ensure security arrangements on Monday.
It is pertinent to mention that the SC Registrar’s Office had summoned the Islamabad deputy commissioner, AIG (Special Branch), DIG (Operation) as well as SSP (Operation).
The rift between PML-N and other parties are now wide open for everyone as Muslim league leaders sought a protest sit-in at D-chowk. The application states that the ruling party alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) wishes to “hold a public gathering at D-Chowk, Islamabad on Monday at 10 am.
It may be noted that hearings of major cases such as elections and National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999 amendments are due in the SC on Monday.
Notably, the top court had come to the rescue of former prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday as it declared his arrest by the country’s top graft-buster from the premises of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) illegal and directed immediate release of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief.