| April 01, 2007 | Sunday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 12, 1428 |
Pakistan in the line of fire
PAKISTAN’S image has hit rock-bottom in the United States, despite good government-to-government relations.
Lawyers’ activities, whether a protest or a convention at the Lahore High Court, dominated the past week too like they did the preceding one. The suspension of Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry formed the basis for the both events participated by members of legal fraternity.
The action against the CJP was as sudden and overwhelming as the reaction against it. When Gen Musharraf had written his book “In the Line of Fire” (translated into Urdu as Sab Sey Pehlay Pakistan), nobody knew that words “Chief Justice” were perhaps missing before the country’s name.
The lawyers are determined to continue their struggle till their demand is met. And the demand is that the reference against Justice Chaudhry should be taken back and he be reinstated as the top judge.
On Monday, the lawyers held a protest demonstration on the premises of the LHC building. Leaders and workers of various political parties gathered at Nila Gumbad and, shouting slogans against the president and in support of Justice Chaudhry, marched to the main gate of the LHC building, where they were received by lawyers.
On Saturday, the lawyers held a convention at the LHC. The community was more aggressive in its tone, and made some demands, which, if accepted, might put the apex court in a rather difficult position. For example, the lawyers demanded that the acting chief justice should step down as no one could hold the office when the chief justice was already there. It was also demanded that the Supreme Judicial Council be constituted afresh, and two of its members against whom references were pending should not be included.
The lawyers also sought removal of Gen Musharraf and his trial under Article 6, which proposed capital punishment for those subverting or abrogating the Constitution.
Nobody is in a position to predict when and how the judicial crisis will be over, and for how long will the country continue to feel the aftershocks.
During the week, it also became clear that the administration doesn’t tell the protesters how much legal freedom will they be allowed wile raising their demands. The chief minister said in clear terms that Section 144 had been lifted for a few days to enable the lawyers to hold processions. But, the district administration and police were telling a different story. The city police chief told a TV channel that a ban on rallies and processions was in place and the government would ensure that nobody violated the law. It was also reported that the protesters would be allowed to march to the Lahore High Court in groups of fours.
Anyhow, hundreds of protesters marched together and the law looked the other way perhaps because no ban the administration was referring to was in place.
Now the lawyers and leaders and workers of opposition parties are scheduled to converge on Islamabad on April 3 to protest outside the Supreme Court building when the SJC will be taking up the reference against Justice Chaudhry.
The provincial exchequer was `robbed of’ more than Rs40 million during the past week. The money went into the pockets of legislators from the treasury as well as the opposition who met for two days — and got allowances for eight.
The opposition had requisitioned a session of the Punjab Assembly to discuss the deteriorating law and order situation and the judicial crisis. The letter of requisition was signed by more than 100 MPAs.
On the first day, the quorum could be maintained only because the ruling party cooperated with the opposition. But, no worthwhile business was transacted.
On the second day, the opposition failed to bring the legislators in the required numbers. The lack of quorum was pointed out, and the session was prorogued.
Nobody from either side of the political aisle felt sorry for the situation. Heavens would not have fallen if the law and order situation had been discussed in the house. When a session had been called, the ruling party, instead of waiting for an opportunity to point out the lack of quorum, should have let the session proceed. Some business should have been transacted to justify the amounts the lawmakers received. But, this happens perhaps in societies where the taxpayers’ money is spent judiciously.
On the other hand, when the opposition was not sure enough that it would be able to keep the house in quorum, it should not have requisitioned the session at all. The opposition had been avoiding this for quite some time because they knew their members would not strictly follow the discipline. They did an experiment after a long time, but miserably failed.
The PML (Functional) of Pir Pagara may be having some following in Sindh, but it is almost a ‘stranger’ in Punjab.
Former minister Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmud, the newly elected president of the Punjab chapter of the party, reportedly said at the first news conference after his election that in a free and fair election his party would emerge as the largest entity in the country’s largest province. Whether it was a joke or a serious assertion only time will tell, but it could safely be called mother of all tall claims.
Till the election, the Makhdoom should first try to set his own house in order as his brother is alleging that he has been fraudulently deprived of his family property worth Rs4,000 million. — ASHRAF MUMTAZ
The suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was probably the last straw. The action was seen in political circles and news media here as an act of high-handedness that only served to confirm the lingering belief that Pakistan still is a dictatorship, and not a democracy.
Americans have poor opinion of their own political leaders, but they generally hold their judiciary, especially the chief justice, in high esteem. So, when the news came that Pakistan’s chief justice had been ‘fired’, the first reaction was of disbelief that turned hostile when the media identified the reasons.
The American press came out with stinging denunciations of the chief justice’s ouster, with electronic media showing footage of police beatings of demonstrators.
Compounding the developments was the story of cricket coach Bob Woolmer’s murder that hit the headlines in this non-cricket playing country. Because of some poor handling by administrators and media managers accompanying the team, the Pakistani players initially became suspects in the eyes of the readers.
In the UN lounges where World Cup matches are being screened live from the Caribbean Islands, diplomats and journalists buttonholed me and some Pakistani diplomats, with the question, “What are you doing to yourself?”
In short, Pakistan’s prestige and image is now at its lowest, matching only the era of Gen Ziaul Haq. Most people believe that it will be to improve the image unless drastic steps are taken to overhaul the system in order to make it truely democratic.
Pakistan has enjoyed high prestige in the comity of nations in different periods of its history. In 1975, Pakistan defeated India, a leader of the non-aligned movement, in a straight contest for a UN Security Council seat. Now can Pakistan even think of challenging India?
May be Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s soft-image brigade will go into high gear and prevent Pakistan from becoming a pariah state. But it is doubtful. Despite having spent millions, it has nothing to show for it.
Last year’s disastrous move to seek American tourists is a case in point. Although Pakistan did not get any tourists, a huge bill for the costly dinner at a 5-star New York hotel hosted for travel agents and the government’s Pakistani supporters in the US.
Not a day passes by without the print and electronic media going after Pakistan for its ‘inadequate efforts’ to fight the Al Qaeda and Taliban.
The New York Times, one of America’s most influential newspapers, has not stopped criticising Pakistan for the assault on its correspondent, Carlotta Gall, in Quetta a couple of months ago.
In a recent interview with Newsweek, Asma Jahangir, a leading lawyer and chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, gave poor marks to the Musharraf government in administering the country.
Asked about the growing street demonstrations, she said: “My own assessment is that the situation will become defused because lawyers can’t stay on strike and keep protesting for months on end. But this government will make another mistake. This government is beyond repair.”
Whether her assessment is correct or not remains to be seen.