Pity the judges and judgements

With apologies to both the great Khalil Gibran and honourable Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, one is proud of this nation which, in the last 65 years, has survived even after breaking up. 

I beg to differ with two observations of Justice Khosa, one where he said "Pity the Nation" and second where in the final analysis he called people to stand up to defend the constitution, giving reference to the Arab Spring.

I was part of this movement even before it was launched. For the first time, as the secretary general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, I issued the statement for the restoration of the Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on March 10, 2007, and condemned the actions of General Pervez Musharraf.

On November 3, 2007, once again we were the first to react against the imposition of martial law and the media ban in the name of emergency.

With no love lost for this government, which to me has been the biggest disappointment when it comes to good governance, rule of law and respect for the citizen, it is a pity that in the last 65 years we have not set the direction on how to run this country and not even sure of the ideology. But are we to blame the people for this, or corrupt politicians, bureaucracy, military usurpers and judiciary? I believe that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani should have quit the day he was charged. He should have gone directly to Multan from the Supreme Court and that too by train, instead of going to the PM House on April 26.

But I beg to differ from Justice Khosa's observation that reads:

Pity the nation that adopts a Constitution but allows political interests to outweigh constitutional diktat.

I am proud.

Proud of the nation, which through democratic struggle and sacrifices under the leadership of Quaid-e-Azam, gave birth to a country called Pakistan, where every citizen irrespective of race and cast, faith and religion will have equal opportunity.

Proud of the nation that struggled against the military dictatorship of General Ayub, General Yahya, General Ziaul Haq and General Pervez Musharraf for over 34 out of the 64 years since its birth.

Proud of the nation which always used its right to vote (though rarely got an opportunity) and struggled for liberation and gave birth to Bangladesh when its verdict was not respected.

Proud of the nation which produced politicians who unanimously adopted the 1973 Constitution.

Proud of the nation which protested and agitated when verdicts were not respected.

Proud of the nation whose representatives went to the gallows at the hands of a dictator; went to prison for life and were exiled by dictators.

Proud of the nation whose leaders and scientists made Pakistan nuclear.

Proud of the nation whose journalists rendered sacrifices for the freedom of expression and went to prison, faced military courts and lashes.

Proud of the nation which struggled for the independence of the judiciary with the expectation that justice will be for all.

Proud of the nation who is still united in a hope for a better Pakistan.

But pity.

Pity the judges who never took suo motu notice in 1948 on the mysterious death of the founder of Pakistan and till this day no one knows what actually happened.

Pity the judges who remained silent over the murder of the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan and till today no one knows the conspiracy behind his killing.

Pity the judges who introduced the formula of "law of necessity" to give protection to military dictators.

Pity the judges who violated their own verdcits in the Nusrat Bhutto case and endorsed the 1977 martial law.

Pity the judges who sent the founder of the constitution, nuclear policy and the chairman of the Islamic bloc to the gallows through "judicial murder".

Pity the judges, who not only gave a usurper the power to amend the constitution but also gave him power which he had not asked for.

Pity the judges who never invoked Article 6 of the Constitution.

Pity the judges who in violation of the 1973 Constitution took oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO).

Pity we have judgments like the cases of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Nusrat Bhutto and Zafar Ali Shah in our PLD.

Pakistan has struggled and made sacrifices for a better tomorrow - but pity the judges who protected the usurpers and sent popular leaders to the gallows.

Read more by Mazhar Abbas here