Aitzaz takes responsibility for ‘no sit-in’

Aitzaz Ahsan, president, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), on Wednesday took the responsibility for ending the ‘long march’ without sit-in, claiming that it was a wise decision, according to ground realities.

Addressing a press conference, he said, “It was a prudent choice, and I am ready to take the burden of the decision; but a sit-in was never announced, or even discussed, at any stage before the onset of ‘long march’.” “I pay my homage to all participants for their commitment to stage a sit-in for the reinstatement of deposed judges,” he said.

“We neither had any aim to storm Parliament House, nor had we come to attack the Supreme Court building to make an entry for the deposed judges of the apex court,” he added. He said that some people had violated the discipline as they tried to launch an attack on the Parliament House, “which compelled us to end the march” prior to any mishap. If it all had happen in the same manner and marchers would have started battling with the police, it would have been considered as an attempt by the lawyers to pave the way for a fresh ‘martial law’, he added.

He said that the marchers were so much charged and filled with anger that “if I had asked them to take law in their hands; they could have turned the whole scenario. But, it was my responsibility to end the ‘long march’ without any mishap, as women and children were among the participants of the march.”

He said that earlier on May 12, 2007, when the deposed Chief Justice went to Karachi to address lawyers, “despite the fact that we were booked at the airport”, lawyers were held responsible for the loss of more than 40 lives in riots. Similarly, when Dr Sher Afghan Niazi was rescued in Lahore, lawyers were censured and blamed for the sad incident, he added. He said that the legal fraternity has fulfilled its commitment of organising a peaceful march and dispelled the impression that Pakistanis are always violent. A non-violent end to the long march has also been acclaimed by the world, he added. He said that prior the onset of long march the decision to have a sit-in was never discussed, “and we were not competent enough to make any decision while sitting on the stage”.

He said: “It was not my individual decision, as prior to my speech Munir Malik, Anwer Kamal, Rasheed Rizivi and presidents of provincial bar associations had already said that there would not be any sit-in”. He said that such a successful march was an eye-opener not only for the President but also for the patrons of the President House–both Americans and British–that Pakistani people are not ready to make any compromise on the issue. He said that it was not necessary that lawyers and civil society would always remain peaceful. “If needed, they can go to any limit.” He said that lawyers’ movement had not come to an end. “We will remain steadfast to our commitment till the reinstatement of deposed judges. The government can solve the issue without the help of any package, if it declares the steps taken by the President on November 3 as unconstitutional, he added.