Targeting Independent Judiciary

Reportedly a campaign is in the offing to malign the superior judiciary for taking so-called unconstitutional initiatives and to portray it as the enemy of democracy. The way the issue of appointment of judges in superior judiciary has been resolved mutually by the prime minister and the chief justice is probably not been taken well by the elements who always want to see this country in crisis. The conspiracy may include creating embarrassing situations for Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry through miscreants and rallies in favor of President Mr. Asif Ali Zardari.

One may wonder what the judiciary has done wrong to the President or the government. As far as NRO is concerned, it was a document which even the parliamentarians considered shameful to discuss in the House. Supreme Court has just ruled what the constitution says and what the people of Pakistan expect in terms of equality for everyone before the law. Actually people at the helm of affair in this country can never tolerate an independent judiciary. Such a judiciary is always a big threat and hurdle to their misdeeds and nefarious designs. The fact is that a silent revolution has taken place in the country after the lawyer’s movement in 2007 that culminated in reinstatement of judiciary on 16 March 2008. People are not in a mood to revive the old judiciary that used to give decisions base on the”theory of necessity”. Any confrontation with judiciary and attempt to undermine its authority will now result in embarrassment for the government.

It is high time that we, as a nation, decide whether we want rule of law in the country or just politics for the sake of politics. A person who grabs power at gun point considers himself to be ‘absolute wisdom’ and above the law. A person who comes to power through vote, thinks that he is not to be questioned by anyone except the voters, that too after five years of his term in the office. And if people again vote him into power, he feels absolved from all criminal and immoral acts. It is very simple for a politician to stand in front of a crowd, deliver an emotional speech and get a “vote of support” from the audience against the so-called “false and politically motivated allegations“on him. Political acumen enabling the general public to reject the corrupt and inefficient politicians through the power of vote (i.e accountability through vote) will take sometime to mature. Till that time people of Pakistan will surely keep their support intact for the independent judiciary to uphold the rule of law.