Slowly but stubbornly, and mostly out of view of the public, a debate on the revival of military courts for civilians appears to be edging towards a decision to reactivate the courts.

A draft law by the government that appears to have been shared with parliamentary leaders proposes, according to news reports, a three-year extension for military courts.

The last time this debate was held, shock and horror at the Army Public School attack in Peshawar overwhelmed broader constitutional and rule-of-law concerns. The country had been deeply wounded and a chaotic political leadership was unable to resist a determined military leadership’s demands for symbolic new powers in the name of fighting terrorism.

And while the Supreme Court did eventually uphold the hastily passed 21st Amendment, it was apparent that a conflicted court only envisaged military courts as a temporary aberration. Yet, a door to the normalisation of military courts had been opened — and sure enough, more than two years on, the military wants to keep its powers to try terrorism suspects in secrecy and with a minimum of due process.

What is deeply troubling about the push for the revival of military courts is that the PML-N government appears to have become a thoroughly willing accomplice in the further distortion of the Constitution. A government sworn to protect and uphold the Constitution appears blithely unaware, or perhaps deliberately ignorant, of its democratic responsibilities, opting to align itself with a militarised view of safety and security inside the country.

Perhaps the federal government is calculating that reviving military courts will create goodwill with the military leadership while causing minimal political damage, especially since a terrorism-weary public is supportive of extreme steps taken against terrorism suspects. But expediency and populism do not make the government right.

Indeed, it is possible to make a case that the government, having no interest or appetite for judicial reforms, sees military courts as an easy cover for its legislative and administrative failings. Instead of having to explain why justice system reforms have not featured on its agenda, the government is simply turning to military courts to plug the gaping hole in its record.

As the government works to assemble the coalition necessary to amend the Constitution once again, now is the time for conscientious and right-thinking parliamentarians to speak out and push back against the government’s plans.

Once an amendment bill is tabled in parliament, the individual will of parliamentarians will not matter; they will be required to vote in line with their parliamentary party leaders’ orders. Certainly, even in the government ranks, there will be unease at what is being attempted.

Military courts for civilians are a distortion of bedrock constitutional and democratic principles — and distortions, once introduced, have a way of growing in unpredictable ways. The fight against militancy will be a long one; it must be fought and won honourably.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2017

Opinion

Editorial

Close the gap
Updated 16 Jun, 2025

Close the gap

Our imbalanced scorecard in the main shows that power development and prosperity reflect the shallowness of political claims.
Fiscal malfeasance
16 Jun, 2025

Fiscal malfeasance

IT is galling that, even in these times of economic distress, when hardship has pushed millions of ordinary...
Rochdale conviction
16 Jun, 2025

Rochdale conviction

THE recent conviction of seven men in the Rochdale grooming gang case is a hard-won moment of justice. The men, ...
Deepening conflict
Updated 15 Jun, 2025

Deepening conflict

Some media reports say that the US had shipped hundreds of missiles to Israel before the attack on Iran.
Some strides
15 Jun, 2025

Some strides

THE PTI government in KP is not known for sound public service delivery in a province whose economy has been ...
Air India tragedy
15 Jun, 2025

Air India tragedy

THE black box of the ill-fated Air India flight AI171 has been recovered, and that should reveal in the coming days...