LAHORE: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Tuesday blamed the Lahore High Court for ‘judicial murder’ of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

He said the nation still awaited justice in the cases of Z.A Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.

“We expect justice from the judiciary even today,” he said while addressing a gathering of lawyers at Lahore High Court Bar Association.

Bilawal said the first target of dictatorial forces was always the rule of law.

“We fought the dictatorships of Ayub, Zia, Yahya and Musharraf with the bars at our side,” he said while lauding the role of the legal fraternity during the dictatorship in the country.

He said democracy in Pakistan was connected with the freedom of expression and human rights.

Bilawal said the PPP government always struggled for and maintained the supremacy of the Constitution and the parliament. He said in the past certain judges had dishonoured their offices by taking dictation from the PPP’s opponents.

A judicial reference against Bhutto’s murder was still pending in the court, he added.

“I ask the bar and the bench to give justice to Bhutto Shaheed. If even Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto do not get justice, where would the commoner go?,” he posed a question.

The PPP chairman said the chief justices in the past misused the suo motu powers. He said the bar and the bench should review the mechanism of appeals against decisions in suo motu cases.

He said his party wanted women judges to be in the higher judiciary as well. He also called for expeditious justice in cases of sexual violence.

Bilawal said under the current ‘selected’ government the country was witnessing a neo-dictatorship. He said the country was in the throes of fascism and fundamental rights of the citizens were being violated.

“The current regime has picked up where Zia and Musharraf left, and let us be very clear, they will not stop,” he said urging the people to join the PPP’s struggle for economic and democratic rights in the country.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2020