Rule of law essential to keep Pakistan going: Sibghat Qadri

KARACHI: The rule of law and egalitarianism are imperative to the well-being of a country and society, and as long as we don’t pay attention to this aspect of national life, prosperity will always elude Pakistan and happiness will be a far-fetched dream for the people.

This exhortation was made by noted Pakistani barrister and Queen’s Counsel (QC) based in London, Sibghat Qadri, while speaking on the occasion of the launch of his Book, “Sibghat Qadri: Bikhri yaadein aur baatein” (Sibghat Qadri: A collection of random reminiscences), at the Karachi Arts Council on Saturday evening.

Recalling his days in Karachi as a liberal leftist student leader and activist who often had to bear the brunt of autocratic governments for his services to the people, he said that they had thought that time would come when their efforts would bear fruit and a reign of egalitarianism and social justice would be ushered in, but today after the passage of decades, it was the same old story and feudalism and capitalism were as entrenched as they always were, making the lives of the toiling masses miserable.

Talking about the Naya Pakistan that is being touted these days, he said that he would like to see the Pakistan that was created by the Quaid-e-Azam, a Pakistan where one would not be persecuted on account of his/her religion, a secular Pakistan where everybody would have liberty with his creed (allusion to the Quaid’s speech of August 11, 1947), a Pakistan where justice was available to the lowest and the highest equally. That was the way the Quaid had envisioned Pakistan, he said.