Gilgit: The lawyers across the 10 districts of
Gilgit-Baltistan on Friday observed a strike in protest against the indecision
of the government in Islamabad on the proposed constitutional reforms in GB.
The protest call was given by the bar associations and lawyers groups.
At
an urgent meeting of the GB Bar Council held in Gilgit, the senior members of
the council reviewed its petition in the Supreme Court regarding reforms in GB
and discussed the overall development on the issue by the federal government.
The
lawyers demanded of the federal government to make GB a special provisional
province pending the resolution of Kashmir dispute.
Through
a resolution, the lawyers demanded complete membership of GB in the
constitutional bodies of Pakistan instead of an observer status being discussed
in Islamabad.
They
demanded extension of Supreme Court of Pakistan’s jurisdiction to GB through a
circuit bench besides declaring the existing chief court as high court. They
also demanded appointments on existing vacant post of judges of the superior
courts through judicial commission and on the pattern of the Supreme Court and
high courts.
The
lawyers also decided to protest across GB in case the federal government again
introduced an executive order instead of a constitutional set up through
amendments in the constitution.
It
is to mention here that lawyers in GB have already challenged the GB Self
Governance Order, 2009, and GB Order, 2018 in Supreme Court.
Apart
from lawyers, Governor Raja Jalal Hussain Maqpoon has also suggested the
federal government to make GB a special province provisionally.
In his recommendation to the federal government the governor has
recommended making amendments in article 257 of the constitution to give
fundamental rights to millions of people in GB without harming the country’s
international obligations regarding the Kashmir dispute.
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