GILGIT: The GilgitBaltistan Lawyers Action Committee for
Constitutional Status on Monday announced it would file a contempt of court
case against the federal government in the Supreme Court for denying
constitutional rights to the people of the mountainous region.
Gilgit-Baltistan Bar Association vice chairman Shahbaz Khan
told a news conference here that on May 28, 1999, the Supreme Court had asked
the federal government to grant constitutional rights to the GB people in line
with the Constitution but the orders had yet to be implemented.
He said the GB people had been denied constitutional rights
as the Federal Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan ruled their
region through a colonial era system of issuing executive orders.
Shahbaz said the region`s current governance system was
managed through the GB Empowerment and SelfGovernance Order 2009, an executive
order, which was not protected by the Constitution.
He said under the Supreme Court orders, the GB people should
be given right to elect the region`s constituent assembly to ensure protection
of their fundamental rights.
`As a result of the continuous denial of constitutional
rights to the people of GB, we`ve decided to file contempt application with the
Supreme Court of Pakistan against the federal government for violation of its
May 1999 orders,` he said. Dawn
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