NEW YORK, Feb 3: Terming the US strategy on Pakistan “dangerously shortsighted”, President of the Supreme Court Bar Association Aitzaz Ahsan on Sunday asked the United States to seek release of the detained former Chief Justice of Supreme Court Iftikhar Chaudhry, calling him Pakistan’s “best hope for returning to a democratic path”.
In a lead article entitled: “Pakistan’s Forgotten Man” published in Newsweek’s latest issue, Mr Ahsan says that the US is “blind to the overwhelming support Justice Iftikhar enjoys at home and abroad”. “Washington continues to pay lip service to the need for an independent judiciary in Pakistan while doing nothing to support one,” observed Mr Ahsan, who led the lawyers’ movement to restore the fired Chief Justice last year.
“This strategy is dangerously short-sighted. The United States has every reason to worry about terrorism and instability in Pakistan. But allowing Musharraf to continue arresting judges and peaceful protesters will only strengthen the terrorists’ hand. If we lock up our judges and subvert the legal process, then those who believe in a more brutal kind of justice will triumph,” he said in the article.
Mr Ahsan asserted: “It’s therefore high time to take a stand. From now on no dignitary should visit the president on his hill without making it a point to inquire about the prisoner on the hill nearby. Due process and democratic principles demand nothing less.”
