An Appeal to Honourable Supreme Court Justices

Pakistanis have all the rights to enjoy the very taste of democracy in it`s real sense with all it`s spirits. And why not? Each and every Pakistani is deprived of this taste for such a long time that they even forgot what is the actual taste of real and true democracy is? Majority of them even stopped thinking freely in terms of democracy. All these dictators (the vampires) sabotaged democracy for their tyranny.

Pakistanis should know that the real democracy is for the people, by the people with free judiciary. They should know that the only voice of poor and common people is the voice of democracy.

Army Generals hang democracy with their ruthless claws and suck the blood of poor Pakistanis to make them dead nation and they have partially succeeded in making them zombies with no voice, but, to act and dance at the tunes of army dictators.

MQM has played the major role in establishing Zia and then Musharaf....

So, the right way is to let democracy flourish in Pakistan with all it`s honesty...Army Generals don`t even give Pakistanis any chance to feel this beautiful thing, called democracy and they always are ready to rule Pakistan.....How much more Pakistanis could be stupid?

Pakistanis have become toys in the cruel hands of these dictators....Pakistanis need liberty, freedom from martial law and those ugly monsters, called President/Army chief.

Time has come for Pakistanis to learn tolerance and accept democracy as their savior, the only way they can be safe and free and only way they can progress...and the only way, they can practice their own faiths freely without fear of any kind.....


This is the current situation of martial law in Pakistan, it is just like a volcano...in which people`s emotion get blocked and suppressed and then at the end this volcano bursts and eats up everything in it`s way.....Just wait and see... Pakistanis will eat up this martial law.

Pakistanis run for your lives.......Musharaf will eat you all up.....break this false idol, called musharaf with your unity and discipline.....
Musharaf has already eaten up hundreds of innocent and poor Pakistanis..a wolf in the garb of army dictator.......a sucker....

``Musharraf’s power is directly proportional to our fear and cowardice. The moment we stand up, his uniform, the mighty GHQ, all of its firepower will melt away. The commendable CJP has shown the way by courageously standing his ground, the rest of us must not now shy away to follow in his footsteps.

It is not a question of an individual, with it hinges the sheer existence of Pakistan as a civilized nation state. The outcome of this episode will define our destiny and charter the path we will have to limp along rest of our lives. The office is bigger than the person who occupies it.``

wise people do not need many words to describe a situation and this author has proved to be the most wise by writing the above. May the rest of his countrymen echo this at this crucial time. As he said , it is an opportunity to be seixed by not only the constitutional bech but the common people as well.

Re: # 17

Hi zeemax,

I appreciate your point regarding the power vacuum. However, IMHO, this Lal Masjid drama is being staged for the same purpose. To make people (& the forces external to Pakistan) afraid of the Mullah and thus to make them stand for Musharaf as their only hope. This has happened before and we shouldn`t be deceived this time. I have spent some good time in Islamabad. It is difficult to believe that Fed. Govt. was helpless in this case. They could do a lot if they really wanted to quell the issue. Yet, it served as a distraction against the news from judiciary (not so effective as someone might have hoped). If lawyer`s procession in Lahore could be baton charged, I wonder what has kept Govt. to move against baton wielding people who are openly challenging the writ of govt.

Anyway, I have one more thing to add that is not for zeemax but for those who drag every discussion to bashing one of their favourite subjects (could be anything, sometime not even remotely linked to the actual writing). How about using some other part of chowk (say, iLog?) to spew such hatred and get lighter!


Regards,

AoA

I would like to add a couple of lines to this passionate appeal:

My lords, beware, after apprising the Full Court about the plight of Malaysia’s sacked Chief Justice and his brother judges Mr Pirzada & Mr Malik Qayyum (a beacon of integrity and justice) will anytime soon read you as well the news reports that Uday, the eldest son of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of 99.9% referendum fame, used to have national football players humiliated, beaten and tortured for playing badly or losing critical matches. Strange, these gentlemen have yet to remind you General Aslam Beg and Chief Justice Haleem episode.

Regards

Re: # 23

{I’d commenced the journey alone, but people kept on joining it and it became a caravan.
--Iftikhar Chaudhry speaking in Lahore}

Caravan or Circus, doesnt matter cause the ringleader is a joker.

I’d commenced the journey alone, but people kept on joining it and it became a caravan.
--Iftikhar Chaudhry speaking in Lahore

Re: # 17

Though there is not much to disagree on your post but there are a couple of points. First, political parties cannot bring this ``revolution`` because they are the greatest beneficiaries of the status quo of corruption and lawlessness and they try their best to maintain it. Political parties (including moulvi ones) are the political wing of that westernized corrupt ruling elite who has this nation in their talons of oppression. The libral democrats are dead morally, politically, and socially after the collapse of soviet union. The time is ripe for an Iranian style Islamic revolution.

What I fear the worst is that the board of directors of the military industrial complex i.e. Corps commanders might try to replace this chutiya with another fauji face with a ``religious bend`` this time who would discard the ``unlightened motheration`` of this dictator. But honestly it is little late for that too. As you said, the power vacuum has been created.

I can understand that we human beings require an idol to worship and shower our loyality. If we dont find one, we create one in our minds. In case of CJ, we forget the fact that he was part of the SC bench in 2001 which legalized the military take over of 1999, giving Musharaf three years with power to amend the Constitution! Small matters lie steel mills case and other such gimmicks do not make much difference. He did not did anything to do greater or funadentally good in his life till matter of his removal from service did not force him to take to streets. But, those who wish, may worship this newly found idol!

Re: # 16

Your assertions are again not true. There are two events among many that have defined who this man Ch. Iftekhar is: One, when he stopped the the military dictator from ``selling`` the Steel Mill to a group of drug runners who had established a fake company in Dubai; and the second, even more serious, is when he took suo moto action in the case of ``disappeared`` Pakistani citizens, who are kidnapped by this dictator`s agencies and then incarcerated, killed, and handed over to countries where they are tortured in complete violation of international law and constitutional gurantees.

There are tens of other suo moto actions where he had taken state machinery, bureucracy, and police to task for extra-judicial murders, attrocities committed by qabza groups backed by military goons and their allies, and torture.

I do not think that during his judicial career he has done anything inappropriate. The text of reference against him speaks volume about his character. Yes, there might be some minor indiscretions on his part, which is totally understandable in a corrupt military ruled banana republic. To me his most serious indiscretion would have been taking an oath under dictator`s Legal Framework Order but with his recent stand off he has absolutely redeemed himself from this crime against Pakistani nation.

#16 by RitaVeda,

Once he became CJ, he was using all his charm to please them.

I think you still haven`t heard about the Steel Mill`s case, or the Missing persons case, or banning of Basant in Punjab, or scores of high-ranking police officials called in and given a dressing down for not fulfilling their duties towards ordinary citizens despite their being respective Chief Ministers` personal favourites :)

Some people try to correct the system by joining it and than waiting for the right moment. Moreover even if this was not the case, it is not written in any books of morals and principles that you can never do any good after doing bad. CJ took some land mark decisions so he didn`t start it just after he was forcibly sent on leave. He was sent on leave due to the very reason that he tried to do his bit to correct somethings. Instead of joining this struggle which is headed by the lawyers and supported by a larger section of civil society, it is unfortunate to attack the person who showed that he can take some stand. Civil society needs to join this struggle in whatever way they can.

#10 by jzaki and others:

While I greatly appreciate all your points, some of which are very valid including the role of media which was never such before, though just one comment:

What is there to prevent Musharraf from declaring Martial-Law, abrogating the constitution altogether, blocking satellite TV, and sending the entire superior judiciary home, all in the name of `National Security` ... ?

... and many people will believe him as well. It`s happened before.

Thing is, a power vacuum has been created. It will take nothing less than a revolution now to fill that vacuum because all else has failed. A revolution needs cadres. The lawyers can`t bring it about on their own without political parties who`re all firstly discredited and secondly divided.

And who has the cadres to bring it about? No one but the die-hard Islamists as you`re seeing now in the Lal-Masjid saga, and whom US won`t accept under any circumstances and prevail upon the military (which is US`s main client) to prevent that from happening at any cost.

So I foresee no immediate outcome but a Martial-Law, dissolution of assemblies, and assuming of full formal control by the Military.

I hope though I`m wrong because in that case there`ll be civil war.

Rgds

Is it not strange that CJ Ch. Iftikhar could remember all great principles when the matter of his service come up. Till the time he had not attained his position as CJ, he was doing all the things to please military rulers and taking oath of alligience to them. Once he became CJ, he was using all his charm to please them. The matter of principles only came when his masters wanted to end his job and bring somebody else in his place. It may be sweet to talk about principled stand, but naked reality is that it is matter of ``service.``

Author, I sympathize with your sentiments but unfortunately (in my opinion) you are wasting your breath. Most of the judiciary, most of the press, and most of the bureaucracy has a well-trodden track record of marching solidly behind the khaki boots – strictly in the interest of self-preservation, of course. Do not expect anybody to put their neck on line – with the possible exception of the zombies motivated by the beards – and no reasonable person really wants those zombies in charge. Also, there is not a single shred of evidence that any politician will be a better substitute for the now pathetic-looking (but consistently a survivor) Mushy whose “heart” at least, appears to be in the right place – at least as far as keeping Pakistan “liberal” (by that country’s standards) is concerned. So, be careful what you ask for – lest you actually get it!

Re: # 11 by RitaVeda:

You make a very important point. Ultimately it is the people who have to bring forth the change and if the liberals dither by putting their eggs into the judicial basket (as they had done earlier vis-a-vis the military basket) the Lal Masjid types will take over ... and frankly more power to them. It seems that the fundoos understand peoples` power better than the liberals. They do not bow down before the military or the judiciary. I do not understand why the liberals have to rely on the judiciary (or the military) when they understand very well that these institutions have largely contributed towards the blockade of democracy in the past. Today the CJ is touted as a great champion of the masses and this may well be so ... but I do remember that not very long ago Mushy was touted as the same. The liberals should independently stand up against the military, if the judiciary wants to stand by them then fine. And yes, in the process they may loose to the fundoos (as the fundoos seeing the gap will align themselves with the faujis). But this is battle worth loosing for the future of a liberal Pakistan. As far as I am concerned, I do not believe that the liberals will loose. Of course, they need to align themselves with grassroot religious structures which are liberal. They should not shoo away this group into the folds of the fundoos.

Abrar:

I must commend you for experessing your feelings, and I must add, that, the feelings of whole nation, through such an exquisite piece of prose. Mashallah zoar-e-qalam aur ziada. I especially liked the following:


``Musharraf’s power is directly proportional to our fear and cowardice. The moment we stand up, his uniform, the mighty GHQ, all of its firepower will melt away. The commendable CJP has shown the way by courageously standing his ground, the rest of us must not now shy away to follow in his footsteps.

It is not a question of an individual, with it hinges the sheer existence of Pakistan as a civilized nation state. The outcome of this episode will define our destiny and charter the path we will have to limp along rest of our lives. The office is bigger than the person who occupies it.