ISLAMABAD: Senators belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Monday sought an explanation in the Senate from the government over trade ties with Israel.

Raising the issue in the upper house of parliament, Senator Mohsin Aziz referred to reports about a Jewish Pakistani businessman Fishel Benkhald exporting food samples to Israel.

He said Pakistan stood with the people of Palestine and it had a principled position as far as the issue of Israel was concerned. He said Pakistan never recognised Israel as a nation and it had no diplomatic and trade relations with the country.

He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari needed to explain their positions on the issue.

The issue was raised days after a Jewish Pakistani businessman shared a video of goods he exported to Israel.

Faisal Javed says his party respects all judges, claims caretaker set-ups will have no validity after 90 days

Mr Benkhald, a Karachi-based Pakistani Jew, tweeted about his first kosher food shipment to Israel.

The opposition PTI on Monday asked the ruling alliance to give a policy statement in the Senate over the reports that Pakistan had opened trade with Israel despite having no diplomatic and trade relations with the Jewish state.

Senator Aziz said even if it was not a direct trade, Pakistani products reached Israel and this trade should be stopped.

“We have a principled stand on Palestine and will remain the same in future and we will tolerate no leniency on this issue,” he said.

PPP Senator Yousuf Raza Gilani said the Foreign Office in a statement had categorically denied any direct trade with Israel and ruled out any such incident. He said there was no need for any further explanation after that.

Leader of the Opposition Dr Shahzad Waseem said the Foreign Office had just issued a vague statement that Pakistan had no diplomatic and trade relations with Israel.

“The issue is that a Pakistani has sent Pakistan products at his own to Israel. The question is whether a Pakistani citizen is above the state,” he said, adding that what should be the response of the state if a citizen acted on his own against the policy of the government.

He said a Pakistani had accompanied a foreign delegation to Israel and asked what action was taken against him?

Judicial activism under fire

PML-N Senator Afnan Ullah Khan criticised the superior judiciary for “judicial activism”.

He said the courts had a dark history and following its tradition, the judiciary had ousted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a frivolous case.

“Who had given you the right to remove an elected prime minister?” he asked.

Senator Afnan said those talking about law and the Constitution had conspired to oust the then government of PML-N. He lashed out at the PTI and said that the opposition party even attacked the Judicial Complex of Islamabad.

“The country has been facing problems due to wrong decisions of the judiciary,” he said. He alleged that the apex court even tried to rewrite the Constitution by giving a judgment on the law of floor crossing that helped the PTI to regain the government in Punjab Assembly.

He questioned the reason due to which Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial was not forming the full court on the issue of holding of election in Punjab.

Rana Maqbool of PML-N, while referring to the matter of polls’ delay, said four judges had already ruled against a suo motu in the case and opined that three judges going against it could not change the things.

He said what was happening in the Supreme Court was not good for the prestige of judges and the judiciary.

He said the judiciary had a constructive role to play and when it turned out to be destructive, it ruined the nation.

The lawmaker said the formation of a full bench to hear the case was a popular demand.

In response, Senator Faisal Javed of PTI said Imran Khan had never opposed the demand for formation of a full bench as the PTI trusted all judges unlike the ruling coalition.

He said holding of elections within 90 days after the dissolution of an assembly was a requirement under the Constitu­tion. “If you deviate from the Constitu­tion, it will continue to happen and the country will become a banana republic,” he said.

He criticised the ruling coalition for its attacks against the judiciary and said there was a need to stand by the Consti­tution.

He said the caretakers would have no legal validity after 90 days.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2023