IN offering himself for trial for supporting Gen Pervez Musharraf’s 2007 emergency, PML-Q leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has not only showed courage but also drawn attention to some unpalatable truths about the treason drama that is the current rage in the media. On Monday, on the floor of the Senate, Chaudhry Shujaat said many other well-known persons besides the retired general ought also to be tried for treason — and not only for the 2007 emergency. As the chief of the ruling party at that time, Chaudhry Shujaat knows what went on in the tension-filled corridors of power before Gen Musharraf signed the state of emergency order on Nov 3, 2007. If at all there was to be a treason trial, he said, the starting point should be Oct 12, 1999, when an elected government was overthrown while Mr Musharraf was airborne.

The story didn’t end there. Siding once again with the army, the Supreme Court not only validated the military takeover; their lordships authorised the army chief to amend the Constitution. This way the apex court gave to the army powers that the court itself did not have under the basic law. It is in this sense that Oct 12, 1999 and Nov 3, 2007 are inextricably linked; the latter would not have been possible without the former. Having made that connection, even if the trial now under way is about the 2007 emergency, and not about the 1999 coup, as Chaudhry Shujaat’s words reflect, the emergency was not one man’s decision. While this time the court reacted strongly to the move, right from the political leadership and the prime minister to the army commanders and intelligence chiefs, there was support for the 2007 move. Chaudhry Shujaat’s stance was backed by the JUI-F’s Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, who demanded the trial of all those who, as he put it, worked for the former general. Whatever views the politicians may have on the issue, it is fairly clear that what is required at the moment is the trial of all those who played a part in the emergency of 2007. As then head of state and army chief, Mr Musharraf’s role was the most prominent. But that should not mean that others be allowed to go scot-free.