With the federal government contemplating to extend the scope of the military courts for another two years to help curb the menace of terrorism, the political parties have commenced internal discussions over the subject matter to come up with a clear stance in the upcoming meeting of the heads of the parliamentary committee scheduled to be held on January 17.
The federal government plans to present a detailed performance report of the military courts at the January 17 meeting. However, the PPP, with the support from some minor religio-political outfits, is all set to give a tough time to the federal government. Moreover, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) are likely to oppose the move too.
While Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is still undecided whether or not to support the federal government’s plan to legislate for an extension to the military courts, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has decided to oppose the reconstitution of military courts “tooth and nail”.
President of PPP-Parliamentarians, Asif Zardari, has publicly directed the party leadership to fully oppose the military courts.
A PPP leader told Pakistan Today that that the party had already decided to oppose the government bill to reconstitute the military courts. The source added that party chief Asif Ali Zardari has directed PPP leaders to oppose the reconstitution of military courts and take a hard stance.
The source said that the party was in touch with other likeminded political outfits and there was a likelihood that JUI-F, JI, PkMAP and some other parties would also oppose the military courts.
“We have also contacted Mutahidda Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and they have also summoned their parliamentary party meeting to discuss the matter. We hope they will also support our view to oppose the military courts,” the PPP leader added.
The PPP has also decided to hold a session of the opposition parties prior to the January 17 meeting to convince all the opposition parties to take a joint stance on the issue, the source added.
At the previous meeting of all parliamentary leaders chaired by Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, PPP had opposed the idea while the PTI had sought explanation from the government for reconstitution of the military courts.
Soon after the meeting held on Tuesday, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi had said the government was using the military as “crutches”. Qureshi had further divulged that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government also does not support the reinstatement of military courts.
Pakistan had legalised military court trials of terror suspects for a period of two years in January 2015 — soon after the terror attack on Peshawar’s Army Public School in Dec 2014, in which 144 people, most of them children, were killed by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants.
Military courts’ performance
“During the previous two years of their validity, 274 cases were referred to military courts. Their disposal has yielded positive effects towards reduction in terrorist activities,” said the ISPR in a statement issued recently. It said the military courts were established through a constitutional amendment ‘in an environment of heightened terrorism’.
The military’s media wing added that out of the 274 cases referred to military courts, “161 (convicts) were awarded the death penalty, 12 were executed and 113 were awarded imprisonment of varying duration.”
“The routine judicial system was under stress wherein judicial setups/judges were also subjected to act of terrorism. Therefore special constitutional arrangements were made to effectively check the terrorists’ activities,” the statement said.
“The cases were dealt through due process of law in the military courts. The military courts have ceased to function on expiry of their mandated period,” the ISPR pointed out.