LAHORE: The Pakistan Civil Society Forum on Wednesday condemned what it said Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s “incitement to public violence” in the event “Supreme Court’s ruling does not sanction the current Orange Line project plan”.

In a statement issued here, the forum condemned Mr Sharif’s Oct 8 address to the media in which he reportedly stated that stopping public projects would result in a bloody revolution, and called on the ‘awaam’ (the masses) to declare war on those preventing the timely completion of the Orange Line Project.

“This can only be seen as an attempt to influence the Supreme Court, to incite violence and silence dissent,” it said.

The forum maintained that the continuing construction of the Orange Line track along a route on which 11 heritage sites were located, despite the Lahore High Court judgment and the fact that the Supreme Court has yet to take a decision on the matter, not only showed a complete disregard for the judiciary but also undermined the authority of the courts to prevent public harm.

“By employing the fait accompli argument of money already spent, the chief minister is not only attempting to influence the courts, he is also showing a blatant disregard for wastage of public funds, should the Supreme Court decide that the project either fully or in part violates the law, as has already been determined by the Lahore High Court,” it maintained.

The forum said that in his public speech, Mr Shahbaz Sharif declared that the Orange Line Metro was a project for the poor. However, he failed to take into account the large-scale displacement of largely poor populations, the removal of thriving economies and the extraordinary human rights violations caused by this project, it added.

It blamed the 69 deaths, primarily from among the poorer sections of society, on “careless, unregulated and speedy” construction of the project.

It said the chief minister failed to mention that the project was financially unfeasible and would require enormous subsidies on a daily basis, ultimately to be paid by the same masses for whose benefit the project was intended.

It said the CM also failed to mention that the case regarding the financial transparency of the project was still pending in the Lahore High Court.

Saying that none of the petitioners were affiliated with the PTI or any other political party, the forum added, “Indeed it is Mian Sahib who is politicising the Orange Train Project through false accusations. This approach undermines the democratic right of citizens to seek redress and to hold the government accountable for the violation of laws and the fundamental rights of the people.”

However, the forum appreciated CM’s statement that the Punjab government would abide by the SC’s decision and choose an alternative for project completion if the LHC judgment was upheld.

It urged the authorities concerned to make any alternative plans for the project fully available to the public as was required by law, and to issue visas to the Unesco Reactive Mission that have been pending since 2016 so that requisite international oversight was provided for the protection of national heritage.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2017