THIS is with reference to the report “Talk of ‘hybrid system’ admission of dictatorship: Justice Minallah” (Sept 5), which quoted Justice Athar Minallah as acknowledging the twists and turns in the judiciary over the course of national history. His ‘admission’ reminded me of a story, which, though apocryphal, is often attributed to Winston Churchill, the prime minister of the United Kingdom during World War II. When asked about the severity of the war situation, he reportedly responded with a question of his own: “Are the courts working? Are the judges working?” When assured that they were, he expressed the confidence that the nation would prevail — and, indeed, it did. The implication is clear: the judiciary is the backbone of a nation’s resilience.

Justice Minallah’s acknowledgment that the Supreme Court, under duress, gave a wrongful verdict in the case of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is both sobering and courageous. The nation suffered a great loss because the judges bowed before a dictator. That moment in our political history still haunts the conscience of our judicial system.

Powerful nations overcame many an existential crisis in their respective histories because of the integrity of the judicial system. Justice Minallah’s candid remarks about the ‘hybrid system’ and its resemb-lance to ‘dictatorship’ did offer a glimmer of hope. Politicians, on the other hand, have largely remained silent or complicit, with democracy, in many ways, lying buried beneath the rug of expediency.

Aijaz Ali Khuwaja
Karachi

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2025