Attack on judge: PHC questions KP govt’s ability to protect women cycle rally

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) observed on Tuesday that the provincial government could not protect a judge from being attacked so how it could provide security to the “Cycle Rally for Females and Transgender” in the city.

“The government should give in writing to the court that it is unable to provide security and protection to the Women Cycle Rally in the provincial capital,” Justice Roohul Amin Khan observed.

The court made the observation when Additional Advocate General Syed Sikandar Shah stuck to his argument that the cycle rally for women was against the culture and norms of the society and holding it could be dangerous as the local clerics have already opposed it.

After some arguments, the court directed advocate general, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to consult the quarters concerned and assist the court in the case. The bench, on the request of the advocate general, adjourned the case till March 21 when he would discuss the issue.

The petitioner wanted to organise the rally on March 8, the International Women Day, but due to lack of written reply by the secretary Home and deputy commissioner Peshawar it won’t be held on March 8.

The petitioner is now trying to hold the rally once the government gives assurance about provisions of security to it. Barrister Masroor Shah, counsel for the petitioner, submitted that on the one hand the government claimed that it had established the writ of the state but on the other it succumbed to the pressure of a few clerics by cancelling the rally.

The bench of Justice Roohul Amin Khan and Justice Syed Afsar Shah also sought reply from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and deputy commissioner Peshawar in the petition against the decision of the district government barring the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from holding the “Cycle Rally for Females and Transgender”.