Federal capital Islamabad It has been a venue for continuous meetings, demonstrations and protests for the past decade. In such a situation, roads and entrances and exits are blocked by the government day by day, due to which the routine life of ordinary citizens is severely affected.
Due to the security of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Heads of Government meeting held a few days ago, the whole of Islamabad was also shut down, causing serious problems for the movement of ordinary citizens.
In this regard, a senior government official told Independent Urdu on the condition of anonymity that ‘since this conference was of a very high level and very serious threat alerts of terrorist organizations were also received from intelligence sources, it So everything had to be closed to avoid any kind of untoward incident, certainly it caused temporary inconvenience to the people but the state has also saved the people from any major loss.’
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He also said that ‘common citizens have no idea what were the factors behind the closure of petrol pumps or markets but all this had to be done to avoid a major disaster. There is similar security on VVIP routes around the world, not even a bird is allowed to be shot, so a three-day holiday was given for citizens to rest at home to avoid inconvenience and the government to ensure their safety. Let it work.’
Can ordinary citizens challenge actions like closure of roads and business life? To find out the answer to this question, Independent Urdu contacted senior Supreme Court lawyer Qamar Afzal, who said that when the matter is about national security, then nothing can be done in this regard.
According to Qamar Afzal: ‘Constitution and law are compromised on one thing and that is the security of the state. When it comes to national security, then the constitution or the law cannot do anything. takes steps, but now the question is whether the constitutional rights of ordinary citizens should not be affected or national security and the rights of ordinary citizens should be balanced. As ambulance and fire brigade cannot be stopped under any circumstances. Yes, they must be checked due to security concerns, but they should be allowed to go.’
He further said that ‘just as steps were taken under national security on the occasion of Shanghai Cooperation Organization because the security of the state guests was the first responsibility, but the entire city should not have been closed for that, but where necessary, those roads were closed. may be closed to concerned persons.’
What does the constitution say about the rights of ordinary citizens?
In response to this question, former judge Shah Khawar told Independent Urdu that since Article 144 is in force in Islamabad and Article 245 is also in force from October 4 to 22. After the enactment of these two articles, the fundamental rights of freedom of movement or the writ of the High Court are no longer enforceable.
He said that in Pakistan, people have the right to peaceful assembly for any purpose, but when there is a threat of breach of peace in any assembly, the government should stop such assembly by declaring it illegal under Section 144 of the Penal Code of Pakistan. Section 144 is enforced by the government for this purpose, which prohibits gathering of more than four people, prohibits double riding and restricts free movement on security routes. ‘
According to Shah Khawar: ‘Under Article 245, the Ministry of Interior calls upon the army to assist civil institutions in view of security threats to maintain law and order. The decision to call in the army cannot be challenged in any court and the actions taken during the presence of the army cannot be challenged in the High Court while in other cases the High Courts will continue to function.
He further said that whatever steps the army takes to maintain security under Article 245 cannot be challenged under fundamental rights. In the presence of Article 144 and Article 245, the fundamental rights of free movement are suspended as the intelligence agencies have all kinds of information, which is not known to the common citizen and it is the responsibility of the state to take such measures. Which does not harm anyone’s life and property.’
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