The hue and cry of liberal non-governmental organisations (NGO) over the Supreme Court (SC) verdict in the Mukhtaran Mai is surprising and incomprehensible, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Secretary General Liaqat Baloch said on Saturday. He said that the general public, human rights organisations and the print and electronic media strongly protested against the injustice against Mai terming it as an inhuman act. Baloch said that it was up to the courts to give the final verdict in any case and the decision was made on basis of the case record and investigation. The JI leader said that one could have reservations on a court decision and there was the option of appeal and review on the decision.
The attitude of the federal government and liberal NGOs in this regard was tantamount to restricting the judiciary’s independence, he added. Baloch pointed out the SC was hearing some important cases including the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto reference, NRO case and the missing persons’ case and decisions on these cases were highly important. He said that the protest on the apex court’s decision on the Mukhtaran Mai case was a prelude to the federal government’s expected reaction on SC decisions in these cases. The JI leader said that the people had struggled for the judiciary’s independence and rendered huge sacrifices for this cause. If the NGOs believe in supremacy of law, human rights and independence of the judiciary, they should take the legal course instead of resorting to protests, he added.
