The Ghost of Justice Munir is Still Alive

Islamabad’s nervous and jittery ‘guardians’ have turned the capital city into a fenced-of, ‘no-go’ town since General Musharraf’s cronies and minions decided to file, on September 26, no less than 17 nomination papers, with the Election Commission of Pakistan, for his re-election, come this October 6. The choice of 17 is interesting. What’s the generalissimo trying to prove: that he’s a successor to Mehmood of Ghazni, who invaded India 17 times in the 11th century and demolished the temple of Somnath? But the only temple Musharraf has trashed is that of democracy in Pakistan.

Islamabad, in broad daylight, is wearing the dismal appearance of a deserted ghost town, notwithstanding its ruling clique’s delusion that all is ‘normal.’ One will have to strain common sense to fathom their take on normalcy.

But Islamabad is also, in the wake of the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s fateful decision of September 28 giving Musharraf the right to contest the presidential election in his uniform, being stalked by the ghost of Justice Munir, the tainted inventor, in 1954, of the infamous and notorious ‘law of necessity’ in Pakistan, which opened the floodgates of soldiers of fortune and military Bonapartes stalking Pakistan with nauseating regularity and impunity. General Musharraf is the latest in the series begun by General Ayub, in 1958.

Much as the bemused and haunted people of Pakistan may have wished, with all their heart, to bury the ghost of Justice Munir, it refuses to go away, and the latest antic of the apex court in Islamabad has given a new lease of life to the ghost that has been bedeviling Pakistan for more than half-a-century. General Musharraf is going to seize the opening provided to him with both hands.

Some of the recent, robustly independent, decisions of the apex court of Pakistan had lit a candle of hope in the heart of every Pakistani hankering for the supremacy of the rule of law in the country. The court reinstating its humiliated (by Musharraf & cronies and minions) chief justice, last July 20, then weighing in on the side of long-incarcerated Javed Hashmi of Nawaz Muslim League, then leaning hard on a criminal bureaucratic setup to reproduce scores of ‘missing’ Pakistanis, and, finally, giving the green light to Nawaz Sharif himself to return to Pakistan had regaled Pakistanis long groaning under the heavy boots of the khaki usurpers of Pakistan. There was a breath of fresh air, which every citizen of the land wished to inhale in plenty. There was hope that the long and tortuous night of the generals in Pakistan was about to relent.

It was in that mood that political parties seeking to block Musharraf’s design to hijack the presidency, once again, for another five years had petitioned the Supreme Court of Pakistan to declare him unfit for re-election in his uniform, a.k.a., as per his own declaration, as his ‘second skin.’

The court’s verdict of September 28 has dashed all these hopes and dealt the dreams of civilian hands at the helm of the nation a very rude shock. The long night of Pakistan’s hectoring generals is nowhere near being over.

There were indications since September 10, when Nawaz Sharif was unceremoniously bundled off to Saudia Arabia in a calculated defiance of the Supreme Court’s decision to allow him unrestricted entry into Pakistan, that the court was returning to its roots of meekly giving in to the establishment’s high-handedness. It could have taken note, suo motu, of the government’s temerity and brazen defiance but didn’t. It hasn’t, to date, moved to chastise a foul-mouthed court jester like Sher Afgan, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, who pored venom on its integrity in media remarks, and apparently got away with it, Scot- free.

In this particular instance, the court refused a perfectly justified request by the petitioners for a full bench to hear what was, by any standard, a very important and sensitive case.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, lionized by all and sundry—except, of course, the votaries of Musharraf—for having stood up to a bamboozling dictator, apparently didn’t pay much attention on the side of impartiality, in his selection of the judges to sit on the bench for the hearing of a case destined to mark a watershed in Pakistan’s judicial history. Out of the 9 judges on the bench, 6 happened to be close to Musharraf and the establishment. The same 6 came out unabashedly on the side of Musharraf, handing him another carte blanche, another sword to slay the dragon of democracy threatening to topple and devour him.

The six judges giving Pakistan’s self-styled ‘saviour’ another prize of expediency have a pro-establishment history.

Justices Nawaz Abbasi and Faqir Khokhar are two former Law Secretaries, with firm establishment roots. Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar has a tainted past as Acting Chief Election Commissioner. Justice Javed Iqbal, establishment-friendly-to-boot, was the one hurriedly sworn in as Acting CJ, on March 9, when Iftikhar Chaudhry was made dysfunctional. Justice Javed Buttar is the same man who wrote the solitary note of dissent on the re-instatement of CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry. Justice Falak Sher was an enigma and has become a puzzle in the wake of his judgment. All these justices ignored Aitezaz Ehsan’s impassioned plea, as the court’s amicus curiae, to follow the glorious tradition of Justice Cornelius and not the shady legacy of Justice Munir. Eitezaz could as well have been talking to a wall.

Packing the 9-member bench with 6 administration-friendly judges puts a question mark on the credibility of the Chief Justice himself, and offers canon fodder to cynics already sneering at, what they regard as undeserved and hyped-up, outpouring of popular adulation for Iftikhar Chaudhry.

The pitch gets further queered by the fact that all six hail from the majority province of Punjab, while the three judges, including Justice Bhagwan Das who presided over the bench, are from Sindh and N.W.F.P. Why did Justice Chaudhry have to have such a heavy content from the biggest province? And still, why did he not consider other Punjabi judges of the apex court, such as Jamshed Ali Shah, Tassadaq Jilani and Chaudhry Ejaz, who are known to be independent-minded and upright?

Once the larger sense of what damage the apex court has inflicted on the much-sought ideal of civilian control of the country sinks in with the people, this landmark verdict may further weaken the federal moorings of Pakistan. The smaller provinces have long been nursing grudges, some warranted others not, against the largest province. This one-sided court verdict would be powerful ammunition in the hands of those already clamoring for an end to the federation’s lop-sided composition. Justice Munir’s Punjabi roots are still fresh in the minds of those mourning the strangulation of democracy at his hands. Now this shaded decision, carrying a Punjabi stamp on it, could only add fuel to the fire.

Musharraf has shown scant regard in his 8 years of absolute power for rule of law or dictates of popular will. The apex court has, once again, played into his grubby hands and he would be loath not to cash this gratuitous reward. Democracy in Pakistan is already under siege. One look at Islamabad’s new fenced-off, garrison-look should suffice to put off any doubter. Dictatorship has been given a hefty injection of muscle power by the sons of Justice Munir. The ghost of that pristine democracy-slayer just refuses to go away and is stalking Pakistan with impunity.

Take not, Benazir Bhutto, your ‘deal’ with Musharraf, so much and for so long in the air, is in serious jeopardy of being in your favour. Musharraf says he’s going to doff his second ‘skin’ soon after he’s sworn in, but not only the people of Pakistan but even those mentors who have pampered him all along, have become used to such ‘promises.’ Even if he does take off his blasted uniform, the leopard is not going to change his spots. Democracy in Pakistan would still be a hostage to GHQ, thanks to the sons of Munir.