Ultimate custodians of the constitution

Early elections only way to stability

eCP did not act accordingly. Consequently, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had to intervened under its suo motu powers and settled the matter with the ruling that it is the President, in consultation of the election Commission, will appoint the date for the general elections to the Punjab Assembly, if the governor chooses not to dissolve the assembly. In case of KP, it is the governor who would announce the date in consultation with the eCP.

The judiciary being the ultimate custodian of the constitution has to encounter onslaughts on the constitution as the solutions to the constitutional chaos lies to the Supreme Court and high Courts. The constitution was violated during the time of vote of no-confidence against the then Prime Minister Imran Khan when the DeputySpeaker National Assembly rejected the motion which prompted the former prime minister to dissolve the National assembly. The August Court took the suo motu and declared the deputy speaker ruling not only unconstitutional but also restored the National assembly. Now Sharif’s regime is playing with the constitution by employing absurd constitutional interpretation to justify unconstitutional acts. The PML-N is hell-bent on avoiding elections, for fears of being pommelled by PTI as it fails to curb inflation.

Though the supreme court of Pakistan has settled that the elections to the provincial assemblies of Punjab and KPK are to be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the assemblies, the government is making excuses like shortage of funds and unavailability of personnel. As ruled by the August Court that parliamentary democracy is the basic feature of the constitution and there can be no parliamentary democracy without Parliament and Provincial Assemblies. And there can be neither parliament nor provincial assembly without the holding of elections as envisaged under the constitution. Any deviation from the Supreme Court’s ruling will tantamount to the contempt of court which will have consequences for the present fledgling coalition government. The constitution does not allow the care taker set up to continue for than 90 days’ time limit set by the constitution. Therefore, it is the responsibility of every relevant institution to ensure that the elections to the provincial assemblies are held within the constitutionally prescribed time period. The reluctance of the PML-N led coalition government of not going into the elections will not bring it victory, given its worst economic performance. The current political uncertainty can come to an end if early elections are held throughout the country because a government with fresh public mandate can take tough political and economic decisions to steer the country out of multiple crises.

The writer is columnist and legal practitioner. He holds an LLM from Punjab University. He can be reached at mianrauf2172@gmail.com

The treatment and language used by plantation owners when dealing with their slaves, the treatment and language meted out to their workers by feudal lords and rich persons in general in Pakistan is enlightening. We can study it and know how not to behave. As it is enlightening and important to know what the North American States went through to achieve what racial freedom they possess today, and where it still falls short. It helps to know about Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King. And about the people in Pakistan who have fought injustice, Akhtar hameed Khan, Parveen Rahman, Asma Jehangir, Faiz Ahmad Faiz. The option is to remain in the dark and for the new generation to imagine that every person in the past grew up exactly as they do now, and had the same values as we are taught in this day…which is how it will be if publishers continue editing books. This is as important as it is to know the struggles our religious figures went through to push through the various reforms they did in their ancient societies.

Words that we disagree with can either be left out when we read out these books to our children. Or… which is better….they can provide a ground for discussion on how it is not right to use such words, or hold those values, and the fact that until people fought against them those words and attitudes were once used and considered acceptable.

Children do not live in a sterilized world, and it is to their detriment if we force them to think they do. They need to learn the meaning of progress, and the different between right and wrong, and also to live with what they cannot change, such as different points of view around them.

The writer is a freelance columnist. Read more by her at http://rabia-ahmed.blogspot.com/

Editor’s mail

Celebrating IYOM

The growing global population owing to the need for more affordable and nutritious food options has challenged the prevailing agriculture, horticulture, and food and drink processing technologies. experts suggest using millets as one possible solution to address such concerns.

Millets are a group of plants cultivated for their tiny edible seeds, widely grown worldwide as cereal crops or grain for food. These are highly nutritious as well as resistant to pests and drought, and thus possess immense environmental sustainability. Moreover, the non-glutinous nature of millets makes them safe for people with allergies and long-term autoimmune disorders. Despite these salient features, millets have yet to be utilised to address issues relevant to food and nutrition security.

To create awareness regarding the production and consumption of millets, the United Nations has declared 2023 the International Year of Millets (IYOM). endorsing the use of millets may provide unswerving backing to accomplish a number of the UN’s sustainable development goals, including zero hunger, good health and wellbeing, responsible consumption and production, life on land, etc. The IYOM is aimed at providing a unique opportunity to promote millets as a critical component of the food basket. This will be significant, especially in regions with poor soil or areas affected by climate change and severe weather events. The public and private sectors, including academics, research organisations, media, food industry, agricultural segment and the relevant ministries, must pay attention to the task of making arrangements to commemorate IYOM in its true spirit.

With all the climatic hazards that are part of life today, our agricultural land and production is under stress, catalysing the economic turmoil. In these worst circumstances, it is indeed a national duty to play our part in utilising the support available from the UN to elevate awareness of the contribution of millets to motivate the stakeholders on improving sustainable production and quality of millets. IYOM is a wonderful opportunity to boost ventures in research and development (R&D) and extension services to achieve the sustainable development goals.

Robbery in Punjab

I recently visited Chak Jhumra, a tehsil of Faisalabad district. During the journey by car from Chiniot to Chak Jhumra, I and my two cousins experienced a horrible incident of robbery on the road leading to Chak Jhumra which was in an extremely dilapidated condition with potholes and cracks aplenty.

Taking advantage of the uneven and badly damaged road, on which one could drive only at a certain speed, a bunch of robbers armed with automatic weapons appeared suddenly in front of our car as soon as the person on the driving seat slowed down the vehicle to negotiate a pothole.

The robbers dragged us out of the car and made us stand with our hands raised above our shoulders. They pushed us inside a graveyard and harshly asked us to hand over all our belongings to them. We quietly obeyed their orders. Thereafter, they immediately powered off our cellphones and took all our belongings in their custody, thoroughly searched us physically and made us sit aside. In the meantime, another illfated traveller became their victim, and the robbers took away Rs35,000 from his pocket after they had already deprived us of Rs24,000. After spending about two hours in their custody, we were allowed to leave.

The provincial administration is least bothered about giving protection to travellers in remote areas/villages, especially after sunset. The damaged road connecting Chiniot and Chak Jhumra should be repaired without any delay, and at least two police checkposts should be setup at an appropriate distance on the 15km stretch of road. Besides, police patrolling at regular intervals should be ensured to avoid untoward incidents.

PAKISTAN enjoysvery brotherly, warm and friendly relationswith allmembers of the Islamic Ummahparticularly with Saudi Arabia, United Arab emirates (UAe) and Qatarbesides as a peace loving country italso hascordial, friendly relations with other countries around the globe. Pakistan also maintains peaceful, cordial and friendly relations with all its neighboring countries with India being a singular exception with which friendly neighborlyrelations continue to be marredmainly due to unresolved lingeringdispute ofIndian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

ever since Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has come into power in power in April 2022,he has frequently been undertaking foreign tours for varying reasons for boosting Pakistan’s relations with these countries, attending international conferences and forums and in a concentrated attempt to pull the motherland out of theextraordinarily prevailing economic crisis apparently for providing relief toall segments of the society as much as possible.It is also worth mentioning that while attending international conferences and forums, the Prime Minister has been interacting withworld leaders, heads ofinternational financial institutions and organizations.

PM Shehbaz Sharif has undertaken 19 foreign visits mostly official with a couple of private visitsto 11 countrieswhichinclude Saudi Arabia and Qatar, two visits each, three each to the United Kingdom(private), UAe and Turkeyand one each to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, USA, egypt, Switzerland and China.

With regards to Qatar,Pakistan has alwaysenjoyed excellent relationswith this fraternally brotherly countryon a commonalityof religion,culture, values and traditions.

These relations were duly highlightedduringthe prime minister’s two visits, both of two days duration each, at the appropriate highest level of the two brotherlycountries. The first visit toQatar was undertaken in