A senior leader of the Insaf Lawyers Forum (ILF) today called upon the legal community to launch an organised movement for judicial independence and the supremacy of the Constitution, alleging that Pakistan is currently being governed under a mindset that sidelines elected representatives and is causing severe economic distress for the nation.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Advocate Hasnain Ali Chauhan, a prominent legal practitioner from the ILF’s Karachi chapter, made the remarks while welcoming the upcoming visit of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi to Sindh.
Chauhan expressed deep concern that the country was being managed in a way that effectively suspends the Constitution and undermines the people’s mandate. He claimed the consequences of these actions were being borne by the entire population in the form of soaring inflation and deepening economic hardship.
The ILF leader described the visiting chief minister, scheduled to tour the province from January 9 to 12, as a committed ideological ally of former prime minister Imran Khan. He stated that Afridi is regarded by the people of Sindh as a symbol of democratic thought and the struggle for public rights, predicting he would receive an enthusiastic reception.
He argued that attempts were being made to suppress Imran Khan”s political ideology, which he said consistently stood for the rule of law and the sanctity of the public vote, through coercion and injustice. “This country cannot be run through oppression; it can only move forward with the supremacy of the Constitution and law,” he declared.
Reiterating his call for the legal fraternity to unite, Chauhan emphasised that justice could not be delivered without an independent judiciary. He recalled the historic role lawyers have played against authoritarianism in the past, suggesting the time had come for them to step forward again to safeguard the nation’s legal and constitutional order.
He concluded by affirming that the ILF strongly condemned all unconstitutional measures and would continue to raise its voice at every forum for the defence of the Constitution and public rights, considering their protection its core objective.