The scribe is a witness to some stark historical facts pertaining to the high and mighty of the land that I would like to relate so that the history of our land may not be lost forever. Late Justice Sheikh Anwar-ul-Haq was a college fellow of my late brother-in-law Professor Abdul Hameed Khan in Islamia College, Lahore. One day, after Sheikh Sahib had resigned as Chief Justice of Supreme Court due to Gen Zia’s withdrawal of judicial review powers of Apex Court, my late brother-in-law and I went to call on Sheikh Sahib at his house. He narrated that after resigning he called upon the President at his residence and asked him as to why he did not consult him before withdrawing the powers of Supreme Court. The then President said, “Well, Sheikh Sahib, I consider myself above law.”
We asked Sheikh Sahib that he must record this remark of the President late Gen Zia in his book of memories as this remark had never been made by any ruler in the history of Islam. However, this remark was missing in the book “Revolutionary Legality of Pakistan” published in 1993 by late Sheikh Sahib although it is stated in the book that no ruler is above law in Islam. Such are the vagaries of history that often go unrecorded for the posterity which hold exemplary lessons for the people.
MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTI
Lahore