Ishtiaq Ali Mekhri has written a brilliant piece for Khaleej Times for its 16th march publication regarding the deposed Chief Justice issue as well as the corresponding ongoing struggle of Pakistan’s politically smarter, evolving civil society.
Pakistan’s deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry may not be infallible. But he has now attained the status of a messiah – in whose reinstatement an overwhelming number of Pakistanis see their hopes in the rule of law, justice and democracy!
What makes them believe so is the word ‘No’ that Justice Chaudhry uttered before a dictator, General Pervez Musharraf, on the fateful day of March 9 two years ago. That unprecedented moment as well as the action, to sack the chief justice, in Pakistan’s history has drawn the line between those who stand for the supremacy of the constitution and those who don’t mind a tailor-made democracy propped up by the civil-military establishment.
March 9, 2007, for many was a revolutionary day in Pakistan when somebody – who was himself a part of the establishment, stood tall to make the difference felt. The day when a dictator at the zenith of his power was made to bite the dust, and was told ‘enough is enough’. For many others, it was a day when the process for a sustained evolution, leading to democratic reawakening, had begun in a country, which has seen chequered eras of military rule and quasi-democracy.
The courage, however, exhibited by the deposed chief justice was the beginning of a long drawn struggle which would make his countrymen realise the dream of a Pakistan where the rule of law shall be supreme. Nonetheless, there is no dearth of critics who are against the restoration of judiciary. And, primarily, they are the people who seek solace and refuge in the condemned doctrine of necessity – which validates every unconstitutional measure of military dictators – enshrined by the judiciary itself way back in the 1950’s.
Similarly, it is argued that why take a stand and struggle for the sacked chief justice when he himself had taken oath under a military dictator after the coup in 1999, which overthrew the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Such arguments are not devoid of substance. But what makes Justice Iftikhar a source of enduring hope for the people is the manner in which he dispensed justice as the lord of the apex court. Thousands of suo moto notices were issued in public interest and hundreds of habeas corpus petitions were heard by the chief justice. He repeatedly summoned the high and mighty to question about the whereabouts of hundreds of missing persons-who apparently became a fodder of the war on terror. Apart from the row that ensued following the chief judge’s sacking and subsequent dismissal of the entire judiciary in November 2007, along with the promulgation of Emergency, a blessing in disguise for the country has been the birth of a vibrant civil society movement in Pakistan.
At the same time, the lawyers’ movement also called the bluff of the so-called democrats of our times.
The lawyers have created history by persisting on this agitation path for almost two years now – campaigning for the restoration of the judiciary and supremacy of the constitution.
And joining them are civil society groups and political forces considered as of peripheral importance. The only major political force to support the cause of sacked judiciary is Muslim League (Nawaz), which perhaps saw an opportunity to axe the grind against General Musharraf by throwing its weight behind the lawyers’ movement.
Similarly, the Peoples’ Party, the largest political party, too found in the lawyers’ movement a convenient platform to subdue the reigning dictator. Yet it was non-committal on the restoration of the judiciary and has exercised dual standards. The only exception has been the remarks of late chairperson and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who vowed to reinstate the chief justice, and see to it that the national flag is hoisted atop his residence once again.
Today, as the lawyers fight for justice on the streets, one thing is crystal clear: they will not rest without reaching their goal: the restoration of judges and rule of law. They braved the heat for two full years. One year under the despotic government of General Musharraf and, one more year under the umbrella of a democracy – which has more than two-third majority in parliament. The lawyers’ movement, and the courageous stance of brother judges along with their chief Iftikhar Chaudhry, cannot be shrugged off as merely a power struggle. It has cast Pakistan’s civil society and democratic forces against the forces of status quo.
The government’s going back on its commitment to restore the judiciary has landed itself in a predicament of sorts. President Asif Ali Zardari, a democrat by all means, and one who has gone through trials and tribulations of dictatorship and languished in prison for 11 long years, cannot brush the issue under the carpet. It will come to haunt him as a credibility crisis – and might register him in history as one who preferred political expediency to democratic norms.
Deposed chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and his brother judges, who have refused to take oath under Emergency Promulgation, are today the heartbeat of an evolving society in Pakistan that foresees its ideals in rule of law and democracy. Restoring them would never be an anti-thesis of political supremacy. Rather it will be in conformity with the mandate the people of Pakistan delivered in the general election on February 18 last year.
On the other hand, failing to restore them will inevitably reflect contempt for public verdict on part of all those at the helm of affairs. There can’t be a sovereign country without a vibrant and assertive judiciary. A free judiciary is the essence of democracy. The government of Pakistan doesn’t have a choice. It has to take this route…and restore judiciary will full honours.
Ishtiaq Ali Mehkri is KT’s Assistant Editor. He can be reached at mehkri@khaleejtimes.com
Filed under: Excerpts & Quotes, Politik , Civil Society, Justice, Lawyers, Long March, Movement, Pakistan
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