If Hazrat Umar (RA) can be held accountable, why not Zardari?

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

Monday, April 12, 2010
News Desk

ISLAMABAD: Former law minister Dr Khalid Ranjha and former President Supreme Court Bar Association Akram Sheikh, Advocate, have said that Article 248 should be abolished from the Constitution. They said the PPP and the PML-N should have demanded expunction of this article.

Both Dr Ranjha and Akram Sheikh expressed these views while talking to Hassan Nisar in programme ‘Choraha’ of Geo News on Saturday. They said if accountability of the second Caliph Hazrat Umar Farooq (RA) could be carried out, then why not President Zardari?

Akram Sheikh said 63 years had passed but no one had been held accountable. If accountability is not carried out today, the country will have no future.Declaring Article 248 as British law, Akram Sheikh said it should be scrapped. He urged the need for a law to hold those accountable with full force who enjoy authority.

Akram Sheikh gave the example of Hazrat Umar Farooq (RA) when a common man questioned the Caliph that from where did he get cloth of the dress he wore because the man could not sew his dress from the share of his cloth. On this, the Caliph said that his son would reply the question. He said in Pakistan, it seemed that the government was not ready to act upon the rules of business.

Dr Ranjha said, in fact, it was the clash of interests that the PML-N had never demanded abolition of Article 248. He said this was a discriminatory law and negated the spirit of across-the-board accountability. He said it was surprising that the people, who spoke on the issue of NRO against President Asif Ali Zardari, were sitting in parliament but no one uttered anything against Article 248.

Why parliament has retained the article as a sacred thing, he said, adding if accountability of Caliph Hazrat Umar could be carried out, then why not of Asif Ali Zardari? While talking on accountability, Dr Ranjha said many laws made in the past regarding accountability still existed and could harm the PML-N.

Under this law, Nawaz Sharif was accused and, therefore, he feels danger that his turn will come next. He said all are afraid that next will be their turn. He quoted the saying of famous historian Ibn-e-Khaldoon, “Don’t make the taxpayers tax recoverers”. President Punjab Bar Council Rana Akram Khan also took part in the programme. He criticised the statement of federal railways minister in which he said if judiciary does not respect parliament, then parliament will also not respect the judiciary.