January
2, 2008 Probe by Ousted Chief
Justice
into Bhutto Killing Sought By Gurmukh
Singh
Toronto
Calling Benazir Bhutto's murder an attempt to "sabotage the
possibility of democracy" in Pakistan, South Asian Network for
Secularism and Democracy (Sansad), a group of intellectuals,
academics and activists of South Asian origin in Canada, has
demanded a judicial investigation into the killing.
In a statement, Sansad said the judicial probe should be led by
ousted Pakistan chief justice Iftikar Choudhury to have credibility
in the eyes of the international community.
``We support the demand of the people in Pakistan that a judicial
inquiry commission, led by three judges and headed by the deposed
Chief Justice Iftikar Choudhury, be formed to investigate the
assassination of Benazir Bhutto,'' it said.
Sansad, which has fought for the rights of South Asian immigrant
workers in Canada for years, said Bhutto's assassination was a
tragic loss for democratic forces in the sub-continent. ``We join
her family and the entire Pakistan in grieving for this terrible
loss to their families, their political party, and the nation.''
Praising Bhutto for her courage in plunging into an uncertain
situation, Sansad said she stepped into ``a US-sponsored process of
transition to democracy from the de facto rule of the military that
was compromised by this very sponsorship as well as by the
restrictions of freedom and the suspension of proper judicial
authority that prevailed.''
She ignited the hope for democracy and the rule of law in Pakistan
which has been in the clutches of a military dictatorship for eight
years now, said Sansad, warning that the military dictatorship might
use her murder as a pretext ``to continue de jure or de facto
military rule in Pakistan as the only way to contain terrorism.
``Already, the immediate finger-pointing by the government at
Baitullah Mehsud and al-Qaeda (rejected by Mehsud), along with its
denial that Bhutto was killed by assassin's bullets, point in the
direction of the government covering up its responsibility. It is
only one more step from here to the argument that only the present
regime can fight the West's proxy war in Pakistan and defend the
Pakistan people from terror."
Urging the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) to use its leader's death as
a means to uniting Pakistanis in their fight for democracy, Sansad
said, ``We hope that this enormous loss to the people of Pakistan
will become a means of bringing them together in the struggle for
peace, democracy, the rule of law, and a genuinely independent
polity free from Western domination and interference.''
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