It is imperative that the judiciary must be independent, strengthen democracy, promote rule of law and constitutionalism in the land of the pure. Due to the Supreme Court’s indifference to the cases that are pending for many years such as the alleged involvement of the ISI in using taxpayers’ money and to bribe the politicians and conjuring up IJI against the Pakistan Peoples Party. The petition about this matter was submitted by Asghar Khan in 1997 to the Supreme Court but it has shown no enthusiasm and urgency in that case as it has shown in the Memogate case.
Similarly, in the suo motu case regarding the Kharotabad incident, no action has been taken as of yet even though the police surgeon who had conducted post mortem reports of the victims has been mysteriously killed. This gives an impression to the thoughtful Pakistanis that the SC is not a neutral arbiter while dealing with the cases in which the establishment is involved.
The PPP perceives a nexus between the higher judiciary and military against President Asif Ali Zardari, who has never been accepted by the establishment as their Supreme Commander. He has been never been invited by the army to any of their important functions. The government’s refusal to write a letter to the Swiss authorities for reopening cases against Zardari has become a contentious between the judiciary and the executive. The PPP, MQM, and ANP in the National Assembly are the ones with secular political ideology as they don’t use religion to gain political power, whereas the judges of the higher courts are protecting the Islamic ideology of the state.
The PPP’s mistrust of the judiciary and the army’s mistrust of the PPP are deep rooted. PPP founder and Chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was ousted by the army and was later hanged by General Zia-ul-Haq on the verdict of judiciary. Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s government was twice removed under military’s influence. She was also assassinated when military dictator General Pervez Musharraf was ruling the country.
President Asif Ali Zardari also suffered long imprisonment during the military rule. This past history is causing mistrust and conflicts between the state institutions.
ENGR S T HUSSAIN
Lahore
