PROVINCE REPORT
LAHORE:Leaders of the Peoples’ Rights Enforcement Movement (PREM) have rejected the imposition of Governor’s Rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, warning that the move would divide the federation and undermine the struggle against terrorism.
These views were expressed by speakers, including Advocate Faisal Siddiqui, Advocate Abid Saqi, Advocate Rabia Bajwa, and others, while addressing a large gathering of PREM activists and lawyers. The event was organised by PREM at Karachi Hall, Lahore High Court.
In his address, Advocate Faisal Siddiqui strongly criticised the unconstitutional and unrepresentative nature of the authoritarian system in the light of the principles of rights and freedoms. He appealed to the legal fraternity to struggle for the restoration of human rights and the release of political prisoners.
Advocate Abid Saqi described the system as a deliberately imposed colonial and authoritarian order under which neither economic rights could be secured nor the rule of law established.
Criticising the present leadership of the Bar, Advocate Rabia Bajwa called upon lawyers to come forward to restore democracy and constitutional governance and to free the judiciary from the dominance of the executive.
Advocate Haider Butt, PREM’s coordinator, presented the movement’s declaration, which was adopted by the participants.
This was the first public gathering of the Peoples’ Rights Enforcement Movement in Lahore. Following this event, PREM branches will also be established in the other provinces of the country.
Statement of the Peoples Rights Enforcement Movement (PREM)
We, the civil and human rights activists from the platform of the Peoples Rights Enforcement Movement (PREM), unequivocally condemn the imposition of a state of emergency and Governor’s Rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, making an already precarious security situation even worse. This situation is driven by the failure of the security apparatus to control TTP-led terrorism backed by the TTA.
This undemocratic step will further widen the gulf between the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federation, which suits the terrorists, and open a second front against the opposition, the displaced legitimate provincial government, and PTI activists. Following a continuing insurgency against prolonged kinetic operations in Pakistan’s largest province, Baluchistan, pushing Pakhtunkhwa to the brink would be disastrous for the future of an already fractured federation.
The authoritarian forces have now taken off the gloves of a docile and illegitimate hybrid regime and unleashed a wave of terror against their own citizens and democratic critics, instead of keeping their primary focus on fighting terrorism, which can only succeed with the backing and participation of the people. Thanks to arbitrary extra-constitutional rule and widespread suppression of civil liberties, media freedom, and fundamental human rights, particularly freedom of expression and association, the people of Pakistan have become alienated. The worst example of their high-handedness can be observed in AJK, where peaceful Kashmiri protesters are being subjected to repression similar to that faced by their counterparts in Indian-administered J&K.
The government’s claims of having achieved fiscal stabilisation have been exposed by rising inflation, the increasing cost of living, and a tremendous increase in poverty and unemployment among our youth. A combination of mafias, parasitic bureaucracies, and a corrupt elite is benefiting most from the plunder of the federating units’ resources and rent-seeking.
In this yet another critical hour of our existence as a country, following the breakup of Pakistan, we warn against the dangers facing our beloved country and its existence as a voluntary federation.
Therefore, we make the following demands to correct the current devastating course and move towards a truly democratic, federal Pakistan, in accordance with the undiluted spirit of the original 1973 Constitution and the 18th Amendment:
1.Lift the Proclamation of Emergency and Governor’s Rule by negotiating with the legitimate government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
2.Bring an end to the oppression of the Baloch people in Baluchistan, declare an amnesty, present “missing persons” before courts of law, pursue a political resolution of the ongoing conflict, and restore an inclusive and legitimate representative government through free and fair elections to defeat the nefarious designs of foreign powers.
3.Accept the genuine demands of the Joint Awami Action Committee of AJK and allow a genuinely representative government of the people of AJK to strengthen their right to self-determination.
4.Ensure the unconditional and immediate release of all political leaders, workers, and human rights activists, including Imran Khan and his sisters, PTI leaders and workers, Iman Mazari, Hadi Chatha, Mahrang Baloch and other Baloch human rights activists, and PTM’s peaceful activists and leader Ali Wazir. The convictions awarded to political activists by the military courts must be quashed.
5.Immediately withdraw the 26th and 27th Amendments while introducing comprehensive reforms in the justice system and making the judiciary truly independent of the executive to ensure the rule of law, due process, and the protection of the fundamental civil and human rights of the people without discrimination.
6.Withdraw the excessive petroleum levy and expand schemes such as BISP, with greater resource allocations for health and education and the protection of the environment.
7.Decolonise state structures while ensuring the constitutional separation of powers and democratic civilian supremacy of the legitimately elected representatives of the people. Hold fresh, transparent, free, and fair elections under a genuine Election Commission of Pakistan, whose members are to be selected through bipartisan consensus, and undertake electoral reforms.
8.Ensure representative and good governance by effectively devolving powers to local governments at the grassroots level, instead of disturbing the boundaries of the existing federating units without the consent of the people of any region.
We, the participants of this conference of the Peoples Rights Enforcement Movement (PREM), call upon all political parties, civil society organisations, and Bars to rise above their differences and join hands to find a way forward for the restoration of undiluted democracy and constitutional federal rule, with enhanced fundamental civil, social, and human rights.
