"Missing in Pakistan": Movie Screening in Van. Hall

Members of the public are welcome. So if you can, get along!

The National Lawyers Guild, Law Students For Human Rights, and the South Asian Law Student's Association Present

The Judicial Crisis in Pakistan and its Implications for Pakistan's Future

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Vanderbilt 210, 4:30-6 pm

Food will be served

A screening of the short (20 minute) documentary "Missing in Pakistan" will be followed by a brief talk and question/answer session with one of Pakistan's leading Constitutional Scholars, Hamid Khan. Recent events in Pakistan have been both frightening and inspiring, as the struggle for the rule of law continues in the courts and in the streets. Please join us for a brief film explaining the origins of Pakistan's "State of Emergency" and suspension of its constitution, and a talk with one of the lawyers who has been deeply involved with the legal battle to maintain an independent judiciary.

Hamid Khan is a legal scholar, Supreme Court lawyer, former President of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association and the Senior Vice President of the political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. In addition, Mr. Khan, was a member of the defense team that successfully advocated for Chief Justice Iftikar M. Chaudhry reinstatement in July 2007. He also argued the case against President Musharaff - contesting his eligibility to stand for presidential elections - that precipitated the November 3 declaration of emergency rule. Mr. Khan has authored several authoritative texts of Pakistani Constitutional law.

Missing in Pakistan:

A short documentary written and directed by Ziad Zafar, an independent journalist and filmmaker. It was shot in February and March 2007 and highlights one of the key causes of the judicial and political crisis in Musharraf's Pakistan: the extra-legal disappearances of ordinary citizens at the hands of Military Intelligence. It reveals, as well, that the average Pakistani citizen can easily draw a stark connection between US ideals and policy with the realities in Pakistan.