Pakistan People’s Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari warned Thursday that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif may himself one day become a victim of the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance if it is passed in its current form.
The controversial anti-terror law has become the topic of much debate in Pakistan, with critics and opposition members saying it gives sweeping powers to security agencies to infringe the fundamental rights of the citizens guaranteed under the constitution.
Opposition parties have vowed to stop the legislation from being passed into law without significant amendments.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) also slammed the legislation today, tabling a resolution in the Sindh Assembly against it. “The MQM rejects the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance. We will continue to protest against this black law as long as our workers are alive,” MQM chief Altaf Hussain said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Senator Farhatullah Babar of the PPP said that the bill is under the review of the Senate, and that his party will try to amend the law.
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PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi says his party will challenge the law in court. |
Babar said that if the law is passed while retaining its current shape, it will provide legal cover to enforce disappearances, and extra-judicial killings would become the norm.
“This law will turn Pakistan into a police state,” Shah Mehmood Qureshi, vice chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), said earlier on Tuesday.
“We have decided to take this law to court and challenge its anti-human rights stance.”
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The Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) government argues the legislation is necessary to curb the rising terrorism and militancy across the country.
The bill was passed late on Monday amid protests from members of parliament and condemnation from international rights groups. The law empowers Pakistan's already powerful security forces to shoot terrorism suspects at sight, detain suspects for up to 90 days, conduct secret trials and transfer cases to special courts.
The law is yet to be approved by the opposition-controlled Senate.