‘We can’t face them!’

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’ ‘open courts plan’, unveiled to maximise people’s accessibility to highly-ranked officials and ensure speedy disposal of their complaints, has run into troubles in its very beginning. Even after the passing of 25 days, the open courts could not be held fully and it is likely that the plan would be rolled back, with ‘security concern’ being cited as the main reason. Lack of interest among the ministers, advisors and parliamentarians who were assigned by the CM to hold open katchehris in November 10 was the main stumbling block on the way of full actualisation of open courts plan, an official in CM secretariat told Pakistan Today. Some Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz hawks advised CM to shelve the open courts fearing public backlash if the plan is not implemented properly. “Red tapism and officialdom is rampant in every department of the province. These open courts will turn in criticism centres against the Sharifs and PML-N government in Punjab,” the official added.
In the past, government introduced open courts with the vision that they would provide an opportunity for the common man to approach the highest public offices for resolution of their problems to ensure good governance, service delivery and transparency in the public sector. However these open courts could not perform up to mark. Complainants also branded such open courts as photo shoots and as ways to earn cheap publicity. Hence, government had to suspend them for indefinite period
However, last month, the CM directed ministers, advisors and parliamentarians to hold open courts across the province on regular basis. According to the notification issued by the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, the area of responsibility of MNA Hamza Shahbaz Sharif was Lahore district whereas Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan was supposed to hold open katchery in Faisalabad Division. Prison Minister Malik Iqbal Channer had to hold open katchery in Bahawalpur Division, Religious Affairs and Auqaf Minister Haji Ehsanuddin Qureshi in Multan Division, Commerce and Industry Minister Sirdar Dost Muhammad Khosa in Dera Ghazi Khan district only, Agriculture Minister Malik Ahmad Ali Aulakh in Layyah and Muzaffargarh, Advisor to CM Begum Zakia Shahnawaz in Sargodha Division, Zakat and Ushr Minister Malik Nadeem Kamran in Sahiwal Division, Food Minister Ch Abdul Ghafoor Minister in Gujranwala Division, Special Assistant to CM Muhammad Mansha Ullah Butt, in Sialkot and Narowal District, Advisor to CM Raja Ashfaq Sarwar in Rawalpindi Division, Mian Mujtaba Excise and Education Minister Shuja-ur-Rehman in Lahore and Human Rights and Minorities Minister Kamran Michael Minister will hold open katchery all over Punjab in majority areas of minorities.
Michael said the open courts would become functional Ashura, adding that they had been suspended due to security threats. “I have already held open court in Yazman, Bhawalpur and next would be in Multan on December 13,” he added.
Ghafoor said a number of ministers had already started organising open courts in their respective areas. “People do not talk about them since PML-N is dealing with real issues instead of pulling publicity stunts,” he said. Punjab government spokesman Pervaiz Rashid did not respond despite repeated contact.