A victory of principle for the SC ruling on military trials: Kakar

ISALAMBAD – Anwaarul Haq Kakar, the acting prime minister, declared on Wednesday that the Supreme Court’s move to rescind its ruling invalidating civilians’ military trials was a significant step forward for social order and a victory for principle.

In an interview with a private television channel, the prime minister stated that the matter had been established primarily because of the court’s ruling; otherwise, the consequences of the state institutions’ decline would have been incomprehensible.

He expressed his gratitude to the Supreme Court for recognizing, valuing, and articulating the issue, deeming it of great importance to the social structure.

In a 5-1 majority decision earlier in the day, the six-member Supreme Court bench conditionally postponed its unanimous decision from October 23 that declared the military trials of 103 civilians invalid until after a final decision was made.

According to the prime minister, the state would face an existential threat if people were allowed to treat state institutions however they pleased.

But he made it clear that those who staged protest demonstrations in front of the parliament or Supreme Court should not be tried in military courts; rather, only those who attacked military installations on May 9 should go to trial in military courts.

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In response to a query, he emphasized that he was more concerned with the concept than with pinpointing the masterminds, leaving that decision to the courts and investigative bodies.

The prime minister said he was “jolted” by the soldiers’ morale and reaffirmed that Pakistan had already won the war against terrorism after visiting DI Khan in the evening to find out how the soldiers hurt in a terrorist attack were doing.

He claimed that because of the terrorists’ presence and leadership in Afghanistan, the current state of affairs is related to events that occurred there. For the sake of regional stability, he underlined the necessity of interacting with Afghan leadership, getting their commitment, and fostering cooperation.

He reiterated his firm position against holding talks with terrorist organizations and stated that such talks could only take place if the terrorist organizations stopped using violence.

Speaking to the issue of repatriation, he made it clear that the intention was to return the undocumented aliens, not to outlaw them permanently.

Prime Minister Kakar stated that as of right now, he saw no obstacles to the February 8 general elections.

He mentioned that there were significant security issues in Balochistan and Southern KP, but that all the parties, including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, were still participating in the election process.