'They want Davis, we want Aafia

GUJRANWALA/LAHORE Stopping a little short of directly linking the release of Raymond Davis with Dr Aafia Siddiqui, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Babar Awan said on Sunday that the United States has a repatriation call (for Davis) and we have a call (for Aafia). Awans statement, the first of its kind by a state functionary, came during his talk with journalists as he visited Gujranwala to offer condolences for PPP City President Lala Muhammad Idreess demise. He made another similar statement on his arrival in Lahore later in the day.
A US court has sentenced Dr Aafia to prolonged imprisonment on charges of abetting militants in Afghanistan, a charge Dr Aafia and his family vehemently deny. There had been calls from political and religious parties of Pakistan to free Dr Aafia in view of her deteriorating health, but the US never paid heed to such calls, saying it was a matter of their internal security.
The law minister said General Pervez Musharrafs arrest warrant had been issued by court and now the former president would have to face the proceedings. He said the PPP was the only party enjoying public support, while the rest are plutocrats.
He said that Altaf Hussain and Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman were supporting the coalition government despite their isolation from the federal cabinet. The PPP government, he said, was pursuing the politics of reconciliation.
He said the PPP government had distributed Rs 400 billion among the provinces. The Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Baluchistan Programme for the restoration of political and democratic process in the province was also this governments achievement, he added.
Addressing lawyers at the Punjab Bar Council in Lahore and talking to the media at the shrine of Hazrat Mian Mir, Babar Awan said the government would present its official stance on the issue of Raymond Davis in court as the matter was sub-judice. Babar Awan, however, added that the US is demanding the release of Raymond Davis while the Pakistani government has been demanding the release of Dr Aafia for a long time now.
He reiterated the government would ensure implementation of court orders on former president Pervez Musharraf. He said nobody could pressurise the government on such issues. He said the judiciary is independent and issuance of an arrest warrant for the former dictator in BBs murder case was a clear manifestation of it. Awan said politicking over Musharrafs arrest warrant was not justified as the government was just following court orders.
He said fortune tellers (a reference to some TV anchors and politicians) had predicted a clash of the judiciary and the executive, but this did not happen.
He said the PPP would observe 2011 as a year of social welfare. Babar said that next phase of cabinet expansion would come soon and the performance of ministers would be monitored.
The minister said the PPP-led government did not have any personal agenda.
He said that lawyers were an important segment of society and the government would bringing an amendment in the constitution to ensure that federal and provincial governments allocate separate budgets for lawyers.
He said lawyers were not villains after the restoration of democracy and they were part of the system like other institutions.
He said there was no concept of victory in democracy but reconciliation was the only concept that could strengthen democracy.
To a question, he said Moonis Elahi was being penalised for being the son of Ch Pervaiz Elahi, shifting the blame of Moonis trail to the Punjab government.
He said the government had convened an All Parties Conference (APC) for the resolution of national issues, and the first meeting of a committee set up for the purpose would be held this week.
He also rejected reports of a cut in the salaries of government servants, saying no such proposal was under consideration.
Awan said the government was not afraid of anybody as listening to all was no weakness.
Later, the minister presented a cheque of Rs 10.56 million to the vice-president of the Punjab Bar Council. He announced Rs 0.2 million out of the allocated amount for a disable member of the bar.
He urged all government hospitals to give free treatment to lawyers and announced Rs 20 million for a proposed hospital for lawyers. He asked the Punjab Bar Council to identify land of the federal government in the court surroundings where the hospital could be built.