KARACHI: Legal experts on Saturday blamed the establishment for undermining democratic institutions and said that it compromised civil supremacy, weakened the rule of law and deprived the people of their fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Speaking at a session — We the People: Our Constitution and the Rule of Law —on the second day of the 16th Karachi Literature Festival at the Beach Luxury Hotel, they also voiced concern over weakening of the “culture of resistance” in the country that resulted in blatant violations of human rights, etc.

Speaking at the event, which was moderated by Ayesha Tammy Haq, former chairman Senate and PPP leader Raza Rabbani said: “Civilian ascendancy is the founding principle of Pakistan and the basic question that everyone needs to focus on.”

He said that all other issues were secondary because unless there’s civilian supremacy in the country, the rule of law will not be possible and the other issues will also persist.

Raza Rabbani says culture of resistance has weakened in recent years

“However, that civilian ascendency is gone. It is flying into the wind,” he said, and pointed out how the “military bureaucracy” has penetrated and taken control of all power by using politicians as well as the judiciary, both of which have often let themselves be used.

He said that the “culture of resistance” in the country has weakened in recent years as the civil society and other stakeholders have stopped opposing the violations of the Constitution and oppressive decisions by the state and its institutions. And that has badly impacted the rule of law, he believed.

He said that Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah had envisioned a liberal, progressive and parliamentary system, but the country was turned into a garrison state.

Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed also believed that the culture of resistance had diminished in the country.

He said the Constitution guarantees civilian supremacy but it has always been challenged by powerful institutions. Whenever any power elite got an opportunity, it misused the Constitution and disregarded it. And that includes the establishment, the judiciary as well as politicians who often try to present a “victim narrative”. The people need to challenge such violation of the Constitution, he said.

Lawyer Sara Malkani said the power elite itself, from day one, never accepted the restraints and arrangement of power structures defined in the Constitution for them and the people. That is why the Constitution has not been relevant to the people and their rights have been violated, she said.

She said one could look how other countries managed to maintain civilian supremacy despite challenges. “The best example is right next door,” she said, referring to how the Indian constitution has sustained for so long since it came into effect in 1950.

Lawyer Abid Zuberi said the 1973 Constitution had survived three martial laws but now it had been badly hit after the 26th Amendment, which had attacked the judiciary.

He said that the judiciary had been made weaker by parliament at the behest of the establishment. He questioned as to how civilian supremacy could be achieved in such a situation.

Former Sindh advocate general Barrister Zameer Ghumro, who is a Pakistan Peoples Party senator, tended to put more blame on judiciary and the ‘establishment’ for violating the Constitution and said politicians were not the only one to be criticised.

He said all the stakeholders misused laws and violated them and their mutual fight was often only about the procedure of how that was done and not about staying in constitutional limits.

Furthermore, he said free and fair elections and a true federalism is the only solution to the problems in Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2025