LAHORE: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) senior leader Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan on Saturday assailed Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman for retracting from his stance in the multi-party conference over establishment of military courts in the country, DawnNews reported.

Speaking at a ceremony here, he said that Rehman had agreed to the collective decision on National Action Plan (NAP) taken against the backdrop of deadly Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar that killed 150 people, mostly school children.

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Establishment of military courts to decide terrorism related cases is a part of the NAP. The JUI-F chief has opposed the national strategy to tackle terrorism, terming the 21st Constitutional Amendment as a ‘collective suicide attack on democracy’ by parliamentary parties.

“Our stance against terrorism should be understood. Terrorists have been given an escape route through this law... for instance if any terrorist shaves his beard off and takes off his turban renaming himself as Saulat Mirza or Ajmal Pahari, then terrorism would be accepted and the terrorist would not be presented in a military court,” he said during a press conference on Thursday only to draw severe criticism from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

A petition has also been filed in the Supreme Court, challenging the establishment of military courts. The petition states that the contentious amendment to establish military courts in the country is against the basic structure of the Constitution.

Speaking to the media today, Ahsan said instead of guiding Pakistan towards progress, “We are trying to take it back to the 13th century”. “In this day and age, people are being killed here for inappropriate length of their shalwars,” he added.

The PPP senator said that establishment of the military courts was the need of the hour. However, he added that his party does not want these courts to be used against politicians, nationalists and common criminals.

Ahsan said that the PPP has only supported the controversial constitutional amendment for the first time in its history to eradicate terrorism and extremism from the country.