People who criticize the distribution of funds amongst the bar associations should support the federal government in combating terrorism and eliminating poverty from the country, Federal Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Senator Dr Babar Awan said on Sunday.
Awan made these remarks while addressing a cheque distribution ceremony amongst presidents of different district and tehsil bar associations at the Governor House in Lahore. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader said that he would continue making efforts for the welfare of the lawyers community and would use a plane, car or even a horse to reach and distribute funds amongst different bar associations.
The federal law minister said that on the directions of President Asif Ali Zardari and the PPP, he would continue to discharge his constitutional and legal responsibilities by giving grants to the bar associations. Awan told the audience that the grants would be given to the bar associations in the form of cheques and not cash, so that no individual could use them.
The PPP leader said that he would visit all the bar associations of the country to listen to the problems of the lawyers, as they had not been solved under any regime. He said that no one could stop him from working for the welfare of the lawyers, as democracy in Pakistan could not flourish without the active participation of lawyers and the masses.
The law minister told the gathering that no one could scandalise the bar associations of the country, as they were a valuable institution, like the armed forces. Awan said that all state institutions should share a mutual relationship based on respect and harmony. He told the audience that the judicial system was an asset of the country and the federal government would safeguard it.
The law minister said that the government would not allow anyone to harm the national institutions of the country. He said that no one would be allowed to create an atmosphere of confrontation amongst the state institutions as long as the PPP was in power. The PPP leader said that some voices in the West were labeling Pakistan as a failed state ignoring the fact that the country was the world’s first Islamic nuclear power.
Afterwards, Mandi Bahauddin District Bar Association President Muhammad Aslam Faiz Gondal received a cheque of Rs 2.5 million, Phalia Tehsil Bar Association President Ansar Mahmood Gondal received a cheque of Rs 1 million, the Nankana Sahib District Bar Association President got a cheque of Rs 1.5 million and the Sangla Hill Bar Association President received a cheque of Rs 1 million. Speaking on the occasion, leaders lauded the PPP government and Awan for providing grants for the welfare of the lawyers community. They said that only a renowned lawyer such as Awan could understand the problems of the lawyers and provide them relief.
Separately, office-bearers of PPP Lahore chapter criticised the Punjab government for removing the banners, welcoming the federal law minister, from Mall Road and the Canal Bank roads.
