ANP Leader Asghar Khan Achakzai Warns Rule of Law Absent, Calls for United Struggle for Democracy

HUB: Provincial President of the Awami National Party (ANP), Asghar Khan Achakzai, has said that while societies may survive without faith, they cannot function under oppression, stressing that nations without the rule of law can never achieve progress.

Addressing a reception organized by the District Bar Association Hub, Achakzai said that unfortunately, extra-constitutional actions have continued in the country since the very first days after the creation of Pakistan. He recalled that on August 21, 1947—just one week after independence—a democratically elected government of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement, which had secured a two-thirds majority, was dismissed by undemocratic forces.

He said that what is today referred to as “Form 47” had, in fact, begun in 1947, adding that a “sold-out parliament” could clearly be seen in the constituency of Hub in the form of what he termed a so-called representative produced through Form 47. He maintained that a similar situation prevails across the country.

Achakzai said that for the first time in history, both the government and the opposition are part of a hybrid system. He criticized the continued disregard for court orders, stating that despite judicial decisions, political leaders and workers remain unconstitutionally detained. He described Schedule IV and enforced disappearances as clear signs of a “hard state.”

He further alleged that what he called “artificial terrorism” imposed in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is aimed at the exploitation of resources. “Our natural resources are being ruthlessly auctioned, while government employees are also victims of state oppression,” he said, adding that due to these factors, the state system is under severe strain.

According to Achakzai, the legislature, judiciary, and media are under pressure in the current situation, while politics and the political process are being deliberately weakened—an extremely dangerous trend for any democratic society. He warned that when institutions are not independent and the supremacy of the Constitution is not accepted, the pillars of the state weaken and public trust in the system erodes.

He emphasized that in the prevailing critical circumstances, all political parties and the legal community must learn from past mistakes and unite to raise their voices for the restoration of democracy, supremacy of the Constitution, and rule of the people. He said lawyers have always played a historic role against dictatorship and in safeguarding democratic values, and today they once again bear a heavy responsibility.

On the occasion, Hub Bar Association President Iqbal Jamoot Advocate, Senior Advocate and former Provincial Ombudsman Nazar Baloch Advocate, ANP District President Lala Manan Afghan, Ikramullah Baloch Advocate, Abdul Samad Gadoor Advocate, and Shahzaib Baloch Advocate also addressed the gathering, vowing that lawyers would not compromise on the Constitution, law, or judicial independence and would continue their struggle for the stability of the democratic system.

Later, an ANP delegation visited the memorial of the lawyers martyred on August 8. Speaking there, Achakzai said the sacrifices of the martyred lawyers would never go in vain and that their struggle for the Constitution, law, and justice would always remain a guiding light.