Islamabad: Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said that those who moved the Supreme Court against the trial of civilians in military courts have political motives.
Speaking in the National Assembly on Thursday, he said it is not the first time that the trials of civilians will take place in military courts.
He said there are precedents of these trials and the judiciary has also endorsed them on various occasions in the past.
He recalled that twenty-four or twenty-five civilians were convicted by the military courts in the previous government.
The Defence Minister asked the petitioners not to challenge the country’s dignity and honor for the sake of their political motives.
He said our security personnel continue to render sacrifices in the war on terrorism and that they are our benefactors.
Khawaja Asif said the memorials of martyrs and the military installations were attacked on the 9th May. He said the political workers were motivated by their leader to attack the state.
He said this crime is not tolerable.
The Defence Minister also stressed that the institutions should refrain from encroaching into each other’s territory.
He warned that such a situation only leads to confrontation. He made it clear that the parliament will not let anybody trespass its territory.
