The Attack On The Supreme Court in 1997
Following the establishment of Anti Terrorism Courts and the Fourteenth Amendment in November 1997, legislators from different parties brought the matter before the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Sajad Ali Shah. Nawaz Sharif, Prime minister at that time, harshly criticized the Chief Justice during the proceedings and was found in contempt.
On 30 November 1997, Sharif appeared before the Supreme Court along with party workers, members, chief ministers, and constituents to hear the proceedings. Unruly party workers stormed into the Supreme Court, forcing Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah to remove the finding of contempt against Sharif. Hundreds of PML-N supporters and members of its youth wing, the Muslim Students Front (MSF), breached the police barrier around the courthouse when defence lawyer S.M. Zafar was arguing Sharif's case.
A journalist rushed into the courtroom and warned the bench of an impending attack. The Chief Justice rose abruptly, thanked Zafar and adjourned the hearing. The justices quickly left the courtroom but workers were able to enter, shouting slogans and damaging furniture.
The mob, led by ruling Punjabi party member Sardar Naseem and the retired Colonel Mushtaq Tahir Kheli, Sharif's political secretary, chanted slogans against the Chief Justice. Famous PTV anchor threw and broke the portrait of the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The mob also attacked Pakistan Peoples Party senator Iqbal Haider. Police eventually managed to restore normalcy using batons and tear gas both inside and outside the courthouse, but the court could only proceed for about 45 minutes.
Read more about this topic: Supreme Court Of Pakistan
Famous quotes containing the words attack, supreme and/or court:
“Scandal is an importunate wasp, against which we must make no movement unless we are quite sure that we can kill it; otherwise it will return to the attack more furious than ever.”
—Sébastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort (1741–1794)
“I think that cars today are almost the exact equivalent of the great Gothic cathedrals: I mean the supreme creation of an era, conceived with passion by unknown artists, and consumed in image if not in usage by a whole population which appropriates them as a purely magical object.”
—Roland Barthes (1915–1980)
““But such as you and I do not seem old
Like men who live by habit. Every day
I ride with falcon to the river’s edge
Or carry the ringed mail upon my back,
Or court a woman; neither enemy,
Game-bird, nor woman does the same thing twice....””
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)