Aitzaz deplores Dogar's campaign against judiciary

NEW YORK - Aitzaz Ahsan, a prominent Pakistani lawyer and former Supreme Court Bar Association president, has criticised Justice (r)Abdul Hamid Dogars campaign against the judiciary, saying it smacked of a conspiracy.
Responding to questions at a dinner hosted in his honour on Wednesday night, he asked Dogar, who has submitted petitions in the Supreme Court in response to a contempt of court notice, to protect the honour of the court.
He called Dogars remarks at his press conference unfortunate and asked him not to disturb the democratic structure. In sharp contrast, Ahsan said, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had conducted himself with dignity after his removal by military ruler Perves Musharraf even though he suffered a lot during his five-month detention. Unlike Justice Chaudhry, Dogar never suffered.
He said CJ Chaudhry never addressed press conferences, only spoke to countrys bar associations-at their invitation-on professional matters. Questioned about the case against Gen Musharraf under Article 6 of the Constitution, he said he stood for his trial but opposed sentencing him to death.
Short of that, Musharraf must be given maximum punishment. He said he was personally against death penalty and his Pakistan Peoples Party had heavily suffered on account of it.
Ahsan said he was sure Musharraf would never return to Pakistan, referring to the generals statement he would face charges against him in the court. If Musharraf was serious about returning, Ahsan offered the general to accompany him to Pakistan on October 31 on his flight back home. But Ahsan said he was not represent Musharraf.
Ahsan was welcomed at the dinner meeting by the President of the Pakistani-American Advocates, Ramzan Rana, who congratulated him on receiving the Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA)s 2009 Defender of Democracy Award in Washington last week. He said the prestigious award was a great honour for Ahsan and for Pakistan. Also present at the function were American lawyers and human rights activists.
Many people attending the event in Queens, a borough of New York City, expressed serious concern over the deteriorating security situation in Pakistan. But Ahsan said Pakistan would come out strong from the current crisis resulting from a wave of suicide bombings if the people remained united in their resolve to fight militancy. Pakistan is not Iraq or Afghanistan where infrastructures had completely collapsed and were left them vulnerable, he told the gathering. But he said Pakistans institutions - parliament, judiciary, military and civil service - were intact and capable of dealing with any crisis.
He said a suicide bomber is like a weapon and efforts must now be directed at finding a way to neutralise this weapon. In the past, he said the world found antidotes to all the weapons, starting from a shield against bow and arrow. Now a way must be found to put an end to suicide bombing. In his opinion, the most effective weapon against suicide bombing is national unity and greater vigilance and resolve on part of the people. Ahsan expressed his happiness at the return of democracy and independent judiciary in Pakistan. But he said that the process was in a nascent stage. Pakistan must move forward from what he called a bare ballot democracy to institutionalising democratic culture coupled with the rule of law in which every one was held accountable.
At the outset of his speech, he gave a detailed account of the successful 2-year lawyers campaign for the restoration of democracy, independent judiciary and rule of law. He called the movement unique because it was not to seek power, but to fight for the rights of the people.
The lawyers fraternity, irrespective of the differences, wholeheartedly participated in the campaign at great financial losses.