| July 22, 2007 | Sunday | Rajab 06, 1428 |
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Implicit message in suicide bombing
Enforced disappearance
All honourable men
Disabled woman raped
Jamia Hafsa Fiasco
Criticising the army
Art and Antiquity
Conflict between Islam & the West
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IN a 10-3 majority decision, the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday declared the suspension of the chief justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, by the president, Gen Pervez Musharraf, to be illegal and instructed that he be reappointed.
The Asian Human Rights Commission salutes the Supreme Court of Pakistan for this bold and upright assertion of the independence of the judiciary, which sets an example for the whole of Asia. Pakistan now again has a legitimate head to its judiciary. It is now his duty to carry the leadership that he has shown in these last few months back into his role as chief justice, in the intense struggle to uphold the rule of law and protect the rights of his people under extraordinarily difficult circumstances.
During the last few months the world has seen the courage of lawyers and judges in Pakistan, who have risked everything to defend the integrity of their institutions and professional credibility, in the interests of the entire public. Their stamina and determination will remain indelibly marked upon our memory.
The Asian Human Rights Commission sincerely believes that the enormous trust vested in the chief justice by people throughout Pakistan, actively demonstrated by thousands of people risking and some losing their lives, will be reciprocated by the upholding of the highest traditions of the courts and legal values. They have made clear that they want their judiciary to be separate. They insist upon institutions for the rule of law and government through real, not fraudulent, legislative power.
Dictatorship has today been rejected as a viable form of government in Pakistan. But while the Supreme Court judgment must be celebrated, the task now falls on all serious-minded persons to think and act together and build upon this achievement. There remains much to be restored which has been lost under this military regime. The wisdom expressed in the streets and courts of Pakistan in the last few months, culminating in this judgment, must now give rise to a vision for a new Pakistan where democracy and the rule of law will wholly replace tyranny and injustice. Let us all work towards this goal.
SPOKESPERSON
Asian Human Rights Commission
Hong Kong
I AM on a company assignment in Singapore and commute by public transport every day to and from office. TV monitors installed in buses were constantly broadcasting bad news coming out of Pakistan; suicide bombings, mosque sieges, attacks, killings and so forth, coupled with constant reminders that in this era of enlightenment and democracy Pakistan is still governed by a military dictator. I usually sat there hanging my head in shame pretending not to be listening, while shying away from sideway stares of certain co-passengers trying to decipher my nationality.
Yesterday I boarded the bus, back from office and was looking, as usual, for a seat away from TV. However, a couple of minutes later I was trying to be closer to the monitor as I overheard something extraordinary on the news: the Supreme Court of Pakistan gave a verdict against the military ruler and reinstated the chief justice of Pakistan. I was looking around as if to announce to people around me that yes I am indeed a Pakistani and a proud one at that. It was a rare occasion and I was almost in tears with joy.
Hats off to a bold panel of judges but more to a courageous community of lawyers whose defiant and steadfast struggle made it all possible. Our politicians, whose own self-interests and internal squabbles are helping dictatorship to continue, should learn from them.
I just hope that the decision opens the door for more good things to come and ushers Pakistan onto a truly democratic path. I cannot help however but recall another bold decision of the Supreme Court which was to restore an unlawfully sacked government in 1993 .Establishment and military could not digest that decision and things were overturned again within months with the help of political opportunists and sycophants.
One hopes that the Musharraf government should accept the current decision in grace and whole-heartedly. In fact, the honour and the nation demand that they quit, although the verdict itself does not. Let Gen Musharraf prove himself to be different, which he proclaims he is, by quitting.
LIAQAT ALI
Singapore
HISTORY will remember the panel of judges, especially Mr Ramday, for its bold comments during the proceedings. Future progress of this country will always remain linked to this landmark judgment.
However, it is now morally incumbent on the prime minister to resign from his post because it was he who forwarded the reference against the chief justice and other state functionaries, such as the chief minister of Sindh and the federal information minister. This is the only honourable course of action these dignified people are left with.
ASAD ALI SHAIKH
Karachi
THIS is apropos of the suicide bombing on July 17 in sector F/8, Islamabad, where a grand reception was being arranged by the Islamabad Bar Council. The chief justice was the chief guest and he was expected to make a speech just as he did in Lahore and at other places. The unprecedented welcome at Lahore was demonstrated to express solid support for Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and for the independence of the judiciary.
The suicide attack does not appear to be targeted against the chief justice as the explosion that took place was relatively at vast distance and near the PPP camp where the activists were raising slogans in favour of Benazir Bhutto and against Gen Musharraf.
The motive appears to convey a message to the PPP that the support given to the government for the Lal Masjid massacre was not liked by the jihadis. Moreover, it was also an implicit message that if the present government is out to serve the interest of the US and take military action in Waziristan and other tribal areas of Pakistan, jihadis are quite capable of reacting and taking revenge in the very capital of Pakistan in Islamabad.
Due to the unwarranted attack on Afghanistan, the Taliban and their supporters are giving a tough time to the Nato forces. The resistance is so strong that the right-thinking men in the US and other western countries are advocating that the forces should be withdrawn as soon as possible. It would be a futile wish that the Taliban could be defeated.
Both in Iraq and in Afghanistan, the invaders are losing all hopes of victory. It is, therefore, the policy of the US that the military forces of Pakistan should play a major role in their mission of defeating the Taliban insurgents.
The Islamabad tragedy is also a message to Pakistan that any support to the Nato forces would not be acceptable by the Islamic resistance force. They are, therefore, targeting Pakistan’s armed forces in Islamabad and in the border areas. They have already caused great casualties and these are increasing. It is, therefore, necessary for Pakistan to refrain from confronting the Taliban forces. It is a conspiracy against Pakistan so that the army gets bogged down in the tribal areas of Pakistan and bordering areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan
HURRIAT MEHMOOD
Department of Defence and Diplomatic Studies
Fatima Jinnah Women University
Rawalpindi
WE, the family members of Safdar Sarki, an American Pakistani national who has been victim of 'enforced disappearance' since Feb 24, 2006, request Justice Jawed Iqbal of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Islamabad, to take suo motu action for the recovery of Mr Sarki at the earliest.
Mr Sarki is a peaceful and law-abiding citizen of America/Pakistan and nothing is against him on record as far as criminal activity is concerned.
His wife and two children, who are living in the US, are in great distress, financially and mentally, due to his long ‘enforced disappearance’ in Pakistan.
We are convinced that the life of Sarki is in great danger due to his long disappearance and non-declaration of his custody / arrest by the government of Pakistan.
He was taken away by plainclothesmen, headed by Chaudhry Aslam Arain, a police officer, from his residence situated in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Karachi, on Feb 24, 2006, at day time without any provocation or violation of law of the land on his part.
We hope the court, in the interest of justice and humanity, should take steps to secure release or to trace the whereabouts of Safdar Sarki at the earliest.
ATHER SARKI, MRS RUKHSANA, ILLAHI BUX KHAN & JEANUM LATIF SARKI
El Campo, Texas, USA
IRFAN Malik needs to be complimented on his article ‘All honourable men’ (July 11). The direction, substance and depth of the article are, to say the least, profound and should move people who can grasp the message being conveyed. Indeed, these men are a rarity in Pakistan and are there only to prove the rule.
However to locate honourable men, one has to look to the people ruling (misruling) us and the effect this is having on the nation. But, they are all honourable men, some involved in robbing millions from the cooperative banks, stock exchange, sale of valuable assets and this list goes on.
To lie is a virtue, to deceive is probity and to state falsehood on oath is to be clever. All of these actors are honourable men and each of them who perform these acts is rewarded. Today, Karachi is one of the dirtiest cities of Asia and yet it is submitted to no less an authority than the Supreme Court that Karachi shall match Paris in 2020.
These honourable men know fully well that in 2020 there will be no one from us to vouch for this statement. As of now this City of Lights has turned into a dungeon of darkness with no light, no water, no road and no one caring to improve the plight of the citizens.
The tragedy is that all acts performed are in the name of the people but the people suffer the most in silence. Cuts, under-cuts and over-cuts are galore and all the cuts are sent to the Tower of London. So, help us God — the people write on Irfan Malik for surely one day the dent shall appear.
MAHER ALAVI
Karachi
A report from Kasur: ‘Rapists of disabled woman remanded’ (July 6) says that two rapists of a deaf and dumb woman were arrested after two days of the crime and the police registered a case the same day. That’s efficient.
Rape is no more a crime or an embarrassing activity in rural society of Pakistan. It is a way of life – like bribery is a norm. Out there you can get away with murder if you are influential who can do anything and everything because they dominate and rule this unfortunate country.
The superior courts are of the same opinion; that’s why they are soft on criminals since they see some influential at the back of every criminal. They pardon the death cell convicts like the Lahore Court cancelled the death sentence, awarded by the Multan anti-terrorist court, and ordered the release of the four gang-rapists of Mukhtaran Mai of Meerwala Jatoi, Muzaffargarh.
In rape cases some judges reduce the severe penalty to lesser imprisonment. What are women for if not to be raped? What good is to be influential if they cannot rape the village women?
In the case of deaf and dumb woman, the situation is different. She might get justice. An influential person got the case registered for her; he has an enmity with one of the rapists. You will see that, if they are tried and convicted, they would undergo their sentence, thanks to the influential.
M.K. NAQVI
Karachi
THE final operation against Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi and his companions in Jamia Hafsa and its surrounding is shrouded in mystery. Lack of information about these incidents is giving rise to various theories. Some explain the crisis as attempts to:
(1) divert attention from the judicial crisis or gain American support by the government:
(2) malign the army and or to pit it against its own people in the tribal areas by the foreign hands;
(3) create an Islamic order by the extremists and the government's incompetent but bona fide response to it;
(4) create conditions which will justify postponement of the forthcoming general elections by the government and
(5) gain international and domestic popular support by the Musharraf regime.
Another theory which is rarely discussed explains these incidents as an outcome of the proxy war between China and the USA. Pakistan is a key state for China's access to the Middle East and beyond for its energy needs and for the cheaper transport of its goods. China has already attained considerable influence in the African continent and if it can gain primacy in Pakistan, then its chances of attaining supremacy in the Middle East will increase many-folds. The Pakistan government has been a keen supporter of the Chinese aspirations for one reason or another.
The above design is in conflict with the American vision for the said regions. The USA will want to limit the Chinese influence in Africa, as well as in the Middle East. It will want the Pakistani government not to cooperate with Chinese in such a whole-hearted manner.
Now Jamia Hafsa was an institute funded by the Saudis. It is also rumoured in some circles that the Saudis fund such institutes with the tacit support or at least with the knowledge of the Americans and thus retain their influence over them. This gives the Saudis and indirectly to the Americans the ability to prevent such institutes from taking any action adverse to their interests.
The strategic reasons behind this can be to destabilise and pressure the Musharraf regime to limit its relationship with the Chinese.
The Jamia Hafsa issue had left the government in a no-win situation, especially after the Chinese workers were kidnapped. If the government did not take any action, then the relations with China could be strained.
The incidents of suicide bombings on the security agencies after the operation were so swift and copybook that they smelled of preconceived design.
The so-called blowback is the continuation of the policy to goad Pakistan away from China. The blowback will stop if Pakistan relents on becoming a trade and or energy corridor for China or any other country. If it did not, the blowback will continue and our survival will depend on our strengths vis-à-vis anti-Chinese interests.
The question for policymakers in Islamabad is what is in Pakistan's interest: a pro-China policy or an independent stance? Pakistan will be better off if it uses its strategic location for its own exports and develop its own industrial infrastructure and not become a ‘corridor’ for one nation or the other.
CH. ADIL SALEEM KHAN
Barrister
Lahore
IT is unfortunate that those who hurled undignified language against the army are now sleeping in their cosy beds and watching the miseries of their fellow countrymen trapped in the floods on their television sets. It is once again the army whose rank and file is risking their lives to save their brothers in need. These power-hungry people are good at burning tyres, damaging their own property, blocking roads and making the lives of their countrymen miserable.
I will also draw attention to Munir A. Malik who recently wrote in Dawn that the army’s principal job is to look outward. However, when the country’s sovereignty is at risk, or their countrymen are in need of them or may it be the Lal Masjid issue, they have to look inward by compulsion and not by choice.
Asadullah Ghalib in a section of the press has correctly pointed out that while the army’s involvement in politics is debatable, there is no doubt that under natural calamities and difficult time poor people of this country need the army.
The bottom line is that one can criticise a person but not an institution whose sons are sacrificing their lives, be it on the highest battlefield of Siachen, fighting extremism in Fata/Lal Masjid and Balochistan or for that matter carrying out rescue operations in earthquakes or flood-hit areas.
FARAZ HAFEEZ
Rawalpindi
WHEN I was in London, I went to the famous Foyles bookshop at Charing Cross, in search of a copy of the Dead Sea Scrolls. I was guided to where the antiquities section is located. I found there a pile of the unsold copies of Pervez Musharraf’s autobiography, `In the Line of Fire’, and Benazir Bhutto’s revised and updated autobiography, `Daughter of the East’.
I asked the salesman at the counter as to why the autobiographies of our two great living leaders were placed by them with the `Dead Sea Scrolls’, in the antiquities section.
He smiled and said: “Sir, the section’s full name is ‘Art and Antiquity’.” I inquired which one of the two autobiographies is art, and which one is antiquity? He gave the typical English reply, “I don’t know”. Does anyone?
FIROZUDDIN AHMED FARIDI
Karachi
THIS refers to the rhetoric "Conflict between Islam and the West" by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq (Encounter, July 1). The writer has done a good job by trying to bring Islam and West together.
The efforts to unite the subjugated and provide forum for thought is commendable, but there are some erroneous points that need clarification keeping in mind that it's the West that portrays the bad image of Islam.
The writer termed Crusades as "holy war" which is a sham. In reality it was a time when poverty and misery was prevailing in the West while, in the East, Muslims were flourishing. The wealth of the East played on the minds of Europeans.
That's why, according to some scholars, Pope forgot peaceful policies and there was an appetite for war. Queller said: "French knights wanted more land, Italian merchants hoped to expand their trade in the Middle East."
Second, 9/11 attacks and religious attacks have no common ground. Terrorism is a political tool, not an ideology, and any person willing to use violence in pursuit of it may restore to such action.
Mr Farooq festooned his thoughts with the dire of need of ‘ijtehad’ but the fact is that Muslims must spend in education to produce people of high intellect, who should have unwavering commitment to humanity and world peace. The notion of surviving in the most satisfying condition can only be attained by achieving ultimate goals in a researchable context for intellectuals of the contemporary world.
KHALIL ZAFAR
Karachi
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