February 18, 2025
By Aitzaz Ibrahim
LAHORE
The Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) and the Lahore Bar Association (LBA) on Tuesday, February 18, jointly organized a legal convention on the 26th Constitutional Amendment at the Lahore High Court (LHC).
The convention was attended by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, chairman of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP) Mahmood Khan Achakzai, president of the Lahore Press Club Arshad Ansari, office bearers of bar associations, and a large number of lawyers.
While addressing the convention, Barrister Gohar stated that ‘all laws had been violated’ to ensure that the 26th Constitutional Amendment was passed; even PTI party members were abducted to ensure its passage. He called the 26th Amendment a ‘stain on democracy’.
“The version presented to the [parliamentary] members did not mention any senior member of the Constitutional Bench,” he said. “When it came to voting, our parties and other parties were broken up, our people were picked up… the entire voting process was a stain on democracy.”
Achakzai discussed the political situation in Balochistan, stating that Baloch leaders are labeled traitors, yet they have never raised slogans against Pakistan.
“Scores of our children, whether they were Punjabis, Sindhis or Pashtuns, have been killed for violating section 144 and are forcibly disappeared,” he said. “Whenever it pleases them, our brothers in the military suspend the constitution.”
Adding to these condemnations, Ali Ahmed Kurd, the former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan (SCBAP) declared that the 26th Constitutional Amendment was not a divine scripture that it could not be rolled back.
PECA Amendments condemned
Meanwhile in his address to the convention, Ansari criticized the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act (PECA) 2025, stating that the government has dug a pit for itself by amending the act.
“This monster – the PECA bill was passed in 2016 by the PML-N government – and then during PTI’s governance it was also misused. We approached the courts for justice, and then Justice [of the Islamabad High Court] Athar Minallah issued a stay on this,” he recounted. “Then the regime changed once again, and [the PML-N] brought in an (even) stricter version of the law. PECA will not only strangle the journalists’ right to free speech, but also that of ordinary citizens.”