CJP will visit Europe to generate awareness on dams

LONDON: The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar will be visiting the United Kingdom and a few European countries to speak to overseas Pakistanis about the need for making dams in view of the serious crisis of water scarcity, according to the World Congress of Overseas Pakistanis (WCOP).

A spokesman of the WCOP told that the chief justice has accepted an invitation to speak here on the crucial issue of water scarcity and building new dams for which funds could be raised through the expatriates.

The WCOP’s Arif Anis said he met the chief justice after he delivered the landmark judgement on Friday through which the apex court permitted Pakistanis residing abroad to cast their votes in the upcoming by-polls. The chief justice noted that it would be the first time that expat Pakistanis will be voting in a local election through I-voting mechanism.

The judgement was issued by a three-judge bench headed by the CJP which was hearing petitions at the apex court's Lahore registry filed by the WCOP, Dr Farhat Siddiqui, along with Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and others through solicitor Muhammad Dawood Ghaznavi, seeking voting rights for overseas Pakistanis.

The petitioners had asked the top court to order the government authorities to give them right to vote so that they could participate in elections to choose their leaders.

Arif Anis, who visited Pakistan from London to attend the court, thanked the chief justice on behalf of the expatriates for their right to vote.

He told The News: “I informed the CJP of the efforts of overseas Pakistanis for collection of funds for construction of dams in the country and requested him to visit the UK, Europe and the US. He said that hundreds of millions of dollars could be contributed by the overseas Pakistanis to the funds for construction of dams as the expatriates were worried about the alarming water scarcity situation in Pakistan.”

He said: “The CJP thankfully accepted the invitation mentioning that he had been earlier invited by many overseas Pakistanis residing in different countries for donations for construction of dams, but it was not possible for him to visit all the countries. He said he would visit overseas Pakistanis along with the governor of State Bank of Pakistan and the Wapda chairman on a seven days trip to sensitise the overseas Pakistanis about the water crisis in the country. The trip is most likely to be scheduled in October.”