Justice Qazi Mohammad Amin Ahmad of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday praised the army for its efforts in defusing the situation in Faizabad, a day after Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui lashed out at the military's role as the mediator between the protesters and the government.
"Everyone knows that the army has saved the country from a huge catastrophe," Justice Ahmad remarked, referring to the sit-in by religious parties that had all but paralyzed the capital for three weeks.
Numerous people would have been killed had the army not played a role, added the judge.
He said that the picture of martyred Major Ishaq's daughter with her father's coffin is proof of the army's sacrifices for the country. "I could not sleep all night after looking at that picture."
Read: List of demands put forward by TLY and accepted by govt for ending the Faizabad protest
"Who is the army to adopt a mediator's role?" Justice Siddiqui had asked on Monday during a hearing at the Islamabad High Court (IHC). "Where does the law assign this role to a major general?"
"This court has serious reservations on the terms of the agreement and mannerism in which it arrived; however, the federal government has to satisfy the court about the constitutional role of Armed forces and an acknowledgement by the federal government/Executive of the country regarding role of armed forces as an arbitrator," the order by IHC on Monday read, calling for the attorney general to assist the court on this point.
