Dawn Editorial
18 Mar, 2010

BARELY days after the Punjab chief minister was caught playing to the Taliban gallery, another high official from the province is in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. This time, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Mohammad Sharif has sparked outrage for reportedly saying that Hindus were responsible for financing acts of terrorism in Pakistan. The remarks came while the judge was hearing two identical petitions against the possible extradition of Afghan Taliban suspects. It may well have been a slip of the tongue by Mr Sharif, who might have mistakenly said ‘Hindu’ instead of ‘India’ — nevertheless it was a tasteless remark to say the least.

Although such remarks warrant criticism what makes them worse is the position of the person who makes them. These sort of comments are the last thing one expects to hear from a judge, that too the chief justice of a provincial high court. What sort of message are we sending to our minorities, as well as to the world, when the holder of such a respected public office makes comments that come across as thoughtless? The Hindu members of the National Assembly walked out of the house on Tuesday to protest the remarks. The members said the comments had hurt the feelings of Pakistani Hindus — and there is no doubt that they had.

As it is, Pakistan scores quite poorly when it comes to treating minorities fairly. Remarks such as these put our already marginalised minorities in an even tougher spot, as the patriotic credentials of non-Muslims living in this country are put into question. Though foreign elements may be involved in terrorist activities within Pakistan, maligning a whole community based on its faith is totally unacceptable. Before making such tactless remarks, our public figures should consider how much they dislike it when others equate Muslims with terrorism. A member of the National Assembly quite correctly advised our judges to concentrate on the dispensation of justice in Tuesday’s session. In the meantime, one hopes that Justice Sharif explains his comments.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/14-tactless-remarks-830-zj-10

Pak judge backtracks on ‘Hindu terror’ remark
Omer Farooq Khan, TNN, Mar 18, 2010, 07.11pm IST

ISLAMABAD: The Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif has contradicted the observation that the Hindu community was involved in funding terrorism in Pakistan, clarifying that observation was misreported and wrongly attributed to him.

A handout issued by the Lahore HC registrar on Wednesday said that it is noted with great concern at the observation made by the Chief Justice while hearing a constitutional petition on extradition of alleged foreign terrorists has been misreported and misconstrued in certain sections of press.

“Finding it malicious, and irresponsible it is strongly contradicted that the observation went to attribute financial support in terrorism to Hindus”, the press release said.

The Lahore HC Chief Justice said, “It is clarified that no such observation has ever been made. This court shows sympathy for those who felt hurt at this misleading report, and expresses its belief in the rights granted by our constitutions to minorities”.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pak-judge-backtracks-on-Hindu-terror-remark/articleshow/5698790.cms

جج اپنے فیصلوں سے بولتے ہیں ، جسٹس وجیہہ الدین
کراچی (اُردو پوائنٹ اخبار تازہ ترین ۔17 فروری۔ 2010ء) سندھ ہائی کورٹ کے سابق چیف جسٹس وجیہہ الدین احمد نے کہا ہے کہ جوڈیشل پالیسی کے تحت ضابطہ اخلاق ججز اور انتظامیہ کو گھلنے ملنے کی اجازت نہیں دیتا۔آج نیوز سے بات چیت میں وجیہہ الدین احمد نے کہا کہ وزیراعظم کو چیف جسٹس کے عشایئے میں نہیں جانا چاہئے تھا۔ عشایئے میں نہ صرف وزیراعظم گئے بلکہ ان کا خیرمقدم ہوا۔ ایک سوال پر جسٹس رٹیائرڈ وجیہہ الدین احمد نے کہا کہ جج اپنے فیصلوں سے بولتے ہیں اور مشاورت دوبدو نہیں لکھ کر ہوتی ہے۔ ان کا کہنا تھا کہ جوڈیشل پالیسی کے تحت ضابطہ اخلاق ججز اور انتظامیہ کو گھلنے ملنے کی اجازت نہیں دیتا، انتظامیہ اور عدلیہ کے درمیان فاصلہ ہونا چاہئے، اور تعلقات میں احتیاط برتنی چاہئے
In Accordance with the Law & Constitution: Justice (R) Rana Bhagwandas
http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2010/02/in-accordance-with-law-constitution.html

Where is our saviour CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry? Any suo moto against his own loyalist in the LHC?

He must read Quaid-e-Azam’s speech on August 11, 1947:

We should begin to work in that spirit and in course of time all these angularities of the majority and minority communities, the Hindu community and the Muslim community, because even as regards Muslims you have Pathans, Punjabis, Shias, Sunnis and so on, and among the Hindus you have Brahmins, Vashnavas, Khatris, also Bengalis, Madrasis and so on, will vanish.

You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State.

There are some States in existence where there are discriminations made and bars imposed against a particular class. Thank God, we are not starting in those days. We are starting in the days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one State.

You will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State.