00:00 Jane Marriott is the UK High Commissioner in Pakistan.
00:04 There was an incident like this.
00:06 On 27th April, there was a conference in Lahore.
00:14 You may remember, Asma Jahangir Conference.
00:17 During that conference, obviously, different delegates were called.
00:21 Different guests from Pakistan were called.
00:23 Dhaneshwar was called.
00:24 Journalists were called.
00:26 People were asked about the various incidents in Pakistan.
00:30 The issues of human rights.
00:34 How is the democracy in Pakistan?
00:37 People were asked about that.
00:39 People were asked about the recent elections in Pakistan.
00:43 Jane Marriott addressed the people there.
00:46 Listen to what she said during her address.
00:49 The right to vote is, of course, the most fundamental tenet of democracy.
00:54 As the will of the people is the basis for the authority of the government.
00:59 And here in Pakistan, it was heartening to see people turn out in number to vote in February.
01:06 As UK Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron said in his statement,
01:10 this was despite serious concerns about the fairness and lack of inclusivity of the elections.
01:16 Not all parties were formally permitted to contest the elections.
01:20 And legal processes were used to prevent some political leaders from participation
01:25 and to prevent the use of recognizable party symbols.
01:29 Restrictions were imposed, as we know, on internet access on polling day.
01:33 And social media continues to be disrupted.
01:36 There were significant delays in the reporting of results
01:39 and claims of irregularities in the counting process.
01:42 And challenges like this can undermine democracy.
01:46 During her address, the High Commissioner said that
01:51 the elections in Pakistan on 8th February,
01:55 her former Foreign Secretary, Mr. David Cameron,
02:01 who was also her Prime Minister,
02:03 read out her statement and said that
02:05 the general elections in Pakistan were unfair.
02:09 She referred to the Supreme Court decision, which was a clear election sign of Pakistan's justice system.
02:19 And said that legal processes were used to undermine the fairness of the electoral process.
02:27 Now, the Supreme Court decision was directly contradicted by her statement.
02:35 In response, the Supreme Court registrar, Ms. Aslam, wrote a letter.
02:43 The date of the letter is 3rd May.
02:46 But we saw that the media got this letter yesterday.
02:51 And when the letter was published, it was clearly written at the end of the letter
02:58 on the instructions of Chief Justice of Pakistan, Hon. Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Ishaq.
03:06 And interestingly, the letter was addressed to Lord Robert John Reid,
03:12 President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
03:16 And Lady Baroness, Chief Justice of England and Wales.
03:23 Now, what is written in the letter? Let's put the headlines of all the newspapers in front of you.
03:28 Because this letter was covered. It was a big development.
03:32 First of all, you see, it was covered in the Janga newspaper in such a way that
03:38 "Bala Nishan, Britannia Motres, Supreme Court Barham."
03:42 And then, "Jain Marriott's objection to the removal of the Justice Movement from the Supreme Court is unquestionable."
03:50 This was written in the letter.
03:53 "Come, let's move away from the generation of colonizers.
03:57 The Supreme Court has admitted its mistakes in the past.
04:00 The British should also admit their mistakes."
04:03 You saw such news in Duniya newspaper.
04:06 You saw such news in Express.
04:12 Viewers, in this letter, which was written by the Supreme Court,
04:16 two references were also given that in 1953, the government of Iran was overthrown.
04:23 The reference was also given to the UK.
04:27 Similarly, it went back and forth.
04:30 There is another reference, when you know, the Jewish state of Israel was formed.
04:35 The reference was also given to the Balfour Agreement.
04:38 And it was said that, "Sir, we have also made mistakes in Pakistan."
04:43 The Chief Justice has written very clearly, "And we are accepting our mistakes in the country
04:48 to strengthen the democratic process, with reference to an open society.
04:53 And along with this, the British should also accept their mistakes."
04:58 After that, you can see in Dawn newspaper.
05:01 This was also said in Express Tribune.
05:04 And in this, the decision, you can see that the Chief Justice defended his decision.
05:13 Now, this is the whole matter.
05:15 I will start with Chaudhry Ghulam Sain Sahib.
05:18 Chaudhry Sahib, you know that this has become a big news.
05:22 And I have put all the charts of newspapers in front of you.
05:25 The news has become and there are also discussions on it.
05:28 So, we want to know your opinion.
05:31 It was an old incident of Jane Marriott.
05:34 But the letter was written on 27th April, conference and 3rd May.
05:39 Now, this letter has come in front.
05:41 After seeing all this, what will you say?
05:44 What is your observation or what is your objection on this?
05:47 By the way, you were not disappointed as a Pakistani.
05:52 The election, which you said from the first day,
06:00 they said how the counting was done.
06:03 And it was delayed.
06:05 And the party was removed.
06:08 Politicians were not allowed to participate.
06:10 In a few sentences, the Ambassador repeated all the allegations on the election.
06:19 The answer that the Chief Justice gave is in its place.
06:23 And I think some of them have been affected by your colleagues.
06:26 Because I ask the Khabar Lahariya Government that it is very hot in Lahore.
06:31 They say that it is much hotter in Africa.
06:35 Chaudhry Sahib, what do you know?
06:37 By the way, you are our elder, but you don't know anything.
06:40 What we have is news.
06:42 This is a very sad thing.
06:45 The Ambassador of the UK, United Kingdom, who is considered the home of democracy,
06:52 has put such terrible allegations on your election that you are not ashamed of it.
06:59 Hassan Ayub, you have also lived in Britain.
07:03 It is not only the British High Commissioner,
07:07 when the election was held,
07:09 but also from other institutions, from the US, from the European Union.
07:14 There was a big opinion on the election on 8th February.
07:17 Their opinion is obviously their observation on the lead.
07:20 The question that people are asking is,
07:22 what was the need for this letter written by Mr. Arif Sattar?
07:26 And obviously he said that I have written it on the instructions of the Supreme Court Chief Justice.
07:31 So, both opinions have come to you.
07:35 Was it necessary to write this letter or was it necessary to answer it?
07:40 I think it was necessary to answer.
07:42 Look, our nation should now come out of slavery.
07:47 Pakistan, thanks to God, has become a free country.
07:49 And we are not slaves of anyone now.
07:52 We are also a free state by the grace of God.
07:56 And we have our own identity.
07:58 The letter written by the Chief Justice,
08:00 he said that he defended his decision that you tell me,
08:05 that the constitution of Pakistan or the law of Pakistan,
08:10 that is the election act,
08:11 if someone sees both of them and gives me a legal argument,
08:15 that how the PTA should have got this sign of the baton,
08:19 which the court did not give,
08:21 then I will apologize to everyone in this show right now.
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