LARKANA: The Senate chairman said on Saturday that Article 6 of the Constitution had “once again turned out to be incapable” of protecting the statute itself, parliament and democracy, calling upon the federal government and the legislature to undo the provision by amending the Constitution.

He was referring to the dec­i­sion to allow former president Pervez Musharraf to leave the country.

“Only the poor and patriots of the middle classes can protect national institutions,” Raza Rabbani said while talking to journalists at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh after offering Fateha at the graves of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and others.

Mr Rabbani said Pervez Musharraf’s exit had also proved that Article 4 of the constitution, which envisages equality of all citizens in the eyes of the law, had lost its credence. He called upon the apex court to ensure implementation of the article in letter and spirit.

He said that a reference was pending before the Supreme Court for the last two years seeking review of the conviction of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He urged the court to take up the reference so that the “historical record could be set straight”.

The Senate chairman quoted Mr Bhutto as having said that the fountain of power were the people of Pakistan. “April 4 is a sad day for the poor as it was on this day that the promise of a better future for them was buried.”

Mr Rabbani was accompanied, among others, by Senator Aajiz Dhamrah, Rashid Rabbani, Waqar Mehdi and MPA Muhammad Ali Bhutto.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2016