Former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Friday made an emotional appeal to the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Justice Yahya Afridi, urging him to hear long-pending May 9 riots cases, as poor families of detainees have been in distress for two years.
Speaking to the media outside the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Islamabad, Sh Rashid said, “For God’s sake, the appeals (petitions) pending for two years should be taken up and decided without further delay.”
He told reporters that households of the detainees across the country were facing devastation as their appeals remained unheard, leaving families with no income and, in some cases, nothing to eat.
Sh Rashid described the situation as “catastrophic”, saying a storm of inflation had crippled ordinary citizens.
He criticised the imposition of heavy fines, noting that motorcycle riders were being penalised Rs500 while shopkeepers were being fined up to Rs20,000, with many shops sealed as a result.
“Half of Rawalpindi is sealed,” he said, adding that flour prices had surged and tandoor owners were now being fined Rs50,000.
He urged the government to reduce the penalties being imposed on citizens, lower the price of flour, and take urgent measures to curb inflation and unemployment, as they reached intolerable levels. “This is my first and last appeal with folded hands,” he added.
Earlier, Sh Rasheed appeared before the ATC in May 9 cases and marked his attendance, and left shortly afterwards as the court adjourned hearings on the charges against him until January 30.
Senior lawyer Salman Akram Raja also appeared before the Anti-Terrorism Court in cases registered over the violent May 9 protests. The court extended Raja’s interim bail until February 3.
