Needless to emphasise that article 62 and 63 inserted in the constitution by a military dictator were a sequel to his malicious intentions. He never wanted to ensure access of only the holy men to the parliament but to use these articles to victimise the politicians.
The dictator who coerced the judges to authorise him to amend the constitution and those who arrogated to themselves the powers to authorise a dictator to amend the constitution were guilty of betrayal and breach of the constitution and their oaths to defend it. Same is true of the other military dictators and the judges who have been endorsing the military coups and allowing the military rulers to mutilate the constitution. The nation undoubtedly has suffered enormously due to the nefarious nexus between the judges and the military dictators. Almost all the challenges that the country is confronted with are one way or the other linked to their unholy alliance against the people of Pakistan. People often tend to generalise this phenomenon by attributing it to the institutions of Judiciary and Army, which I believe is wrong. It were the individuals belonging to those institutions who at a given time committed those indiscretions therefore the blame needs to be apportioned to them in their individual capacity rather than the institutions as a whole.
The military dictators who staged military coups invariably accused the civilian governments of reckless corruption and vowed to clear the decks on the basis of which, they in connivance with the pliable judges justified the military take-over. But history is witness to the fact that they indulged in more corruption than the civilians and all of them had to make inglorious exits. No wonder Transparency International declared Musharraf regime as the most corrupt government in the history of Pakistan.
Now coming to the politicians, unfortunately their record is also not so envious and almost all of them have myriads of skeletons in their cupboards. Like the judges and Generals who played with the destiny of this nation, they are also guilty of betraying the masses by continuing and perpetuating the anti-people colonial system of governance. There is hardly any politician and their cronies in the country who have not been accused of corruption and wrong doing during their stints of power. They are also equally responsible for the obtaining situation in the country. So neither the judges and the generals who connived to derail democracy and disfigured the constitution nor the politicians qualify for being ‘ Sadiq and Ameen’ My understanding of the article 62 and 63 as a layman is that anybody who is guilty of any wrong doing, is not a staunch Muslim and has been dishonest in fulfilling his obligations entrusted to him as a public office holder, is not ‘ Sadiq and Ameen’ If we apply this yardstick I am afraid one would tend to generalise that none of the parliamentarians and politicians are qualified to be the members of that august house. I will go further than that. Corruption and dishonesty are the hall mark of our society and no segment of the society can claim immunity from this cancerous affliction. Honestly speaking the entire society is at the lowest rung of morality. It really is a national shame.
Under such circumstances what happens is that the more powerful vested interests assume the role of judging others in the light of their perceived moral standards and holding the other vulnerable entities accountable ( a witch-hunt ) to give the pretence of justice and accountability. That is what has been happening in this country. Nobody has ever held the corrupt judges and Generals accountable and only the politicians have been the victim of this selective justice.
The most painful aspect of this phenomenon has been that even some of the disgruntled politicians who could not dream of reaching the corridors of power through the ballot have invariably joined hands with the forces inimical to democracy and constitutional rule in the country for their personal political gains rather than working for strengthening democracy and state institutions and giving the people a system of governance that they deserve as owners of the state. They have together conspired for regime changes and to destabilise the elected governments and sometimes even getting assistance from outside.
The writ filed by Imran Khan and other political parties in the SC seeking disqualification of the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif under article 62 and 62 of the constitution undoubtedly is a politically motivated attempt to exploit the infamous provisions of the constitution which are so loose-ended that anybody can be roped in. The question arises, are those seeking the disqualification of the Prime Minister themselves ‘Sadiq and Ameen’ in terms of those articles or not? Going by their known political antecedents and track record the answer is an emphatic NO. How could a person or persons who themselves do not fulfil the qualifications mentioned in the relevant articles of the constitution could seek disqualification of another person under the same articles? I think the court first of all needs to find answer to this question, the aspect which has been neglected by the media and all other stakeholders in the continuation of the system. I am of the firm view that the SC should not have taken up this political case, because in the end it might also not emerge unscathed from its fall-out. Judges themselves are on trial.
The politicians as a class have actually axed their own feet by invoking articles 62 and 63. If as a result of this petition the SC disqualifies the Prime Minister, it might assuage the wishes of the petitioners but it would certainly add to the litany of vulnerabilities of the politicians which could be exploited by the anti-democracy forces for keeping the elected representatives under their disdainful patronage. Tomorrow they could also be the victims of their indiscretions. The politicians made a big mistake by retaining these articles while finalising the eighteenth constitutional amendment.
Whatever decision the court would deliver would be binding on the parties irrespective of the likely political repercussions. Nevertheless after this issue is over, the first thing that the politicians must do in the interest of the country, democracy, the people and to atone for the past follies, is to set aside their differences and join hands in repealing article 62 and 63 as well as other articles inserted by the military dictators that give immunity to some state institutions from public scrutiny and oversight of the parliament. They must also evolve a fool-proof system of across the board accountability of the public office holders, including judges, generals and bureaucracy. That is the only way democracy can take roots in this country and the conspiracies against it can be thwarted. Their failure to do so would harm them as well as the country.
