Time for the judiciary to settle this issue
The SC has finally woken to the need of taking up Asghar Khan’s plea which was gathering dust in the record room of the SC since 1996. Not that the issue was not pressed by the indefatigable Air Marshal through media after the restoration of independent judiciary. The plea, however, continued to hang fire. That the matter was taken up only after a protracted delay would raise questions about how the court determines the priorities of the cases to be heard. Such was the state of neglect meted out to the petition that sealed records connected with the case were not available on Wednesday when the hearing started and proceedings had to be adjourned for a week to locate them.
The petition incriminates both the ISI and the politicians. This was by no means the first or the last time that the ISI interfered in politics to get the electoral results of its liking. The manipulations by the ISI have hindered the growth of the institutions, promoted corruption among the political elite and weakened the political system. Over the decades, the spy agency has played a major role in breaking up of the mainstream parties and bolstering those supporting military dictators. It has crafted new political alliances. The ISI has approached politicians and maintained elements in the media on its payroll. Unless those who devised the plan to rig the 1990 elections, provided finances for it and doled out money are meted out exemplary punishment, corruption in politics will continue to flourish.
Politician who received the money from ISI are equally to be blamed. One expects political leaders to act as a role model for the coming generations. That they should succumb to act as henchmen of the ISI in return for money is a matter of shame. As some those included in the ISI list have denied receiving the funds, a thorough probe is needed in the affair. Those who are found to have accepted the payment should be proceeded against. The case being no more than the tip of an iceberg, it would be in place if the apex court appoints a judicial commission to probe other cases of gross interference by the ISI in political matters to close the chapter for good.