Side-effect

When I write these lines, a crucial election is awaited at the Supreme Court Bar Association. Arch campaigner from the legal fraternity, Ali Ahmed Kurd, is fighting for the presidency of the bar against one of his former comrades in the lawyers' movement, M Zafar. To the dismay of some leading lawyers, even the Attorney-General of Pakistan, Sardar Latif Khosa, is drumming up support for Zafar. The result of this election would spell out the future of a unique movement in the country's history besides impacting the political landscape in the long term. I agree with the critics of the lawyers' movement who say that it was not a grassroots people's movement. It was not a people's movement but a movement for the people of Pakistan. It was for the restoration of their dignity and realisation of their constitutional rights. An exceptionally important factor in derailing democracy in Pakistan is the historic role of the higher judiciary in condoning the sacking of civilian governments and dissolution of parliaments. Always, after abrogating the constitution and dismissing parliament, the dictator seeks support from the judiciary. We all know about the famous Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan Case. If the removal of Chaudhry Muhammad Ali's government in the early years of Pakistan was not ratified by Justice Munir's bench of the then Federal Court invoking the doctrine of necessity, this would have been a different country. Exceptions like Justices MR Kiyani, BA Siddiqui, Dorab Patel, Fakhruddin G Ebrahim and some others, could not create a critical mass. Bhutto was hanged even after so many judges were retired or removed. There are always enough judges to provide a firm judicial support, if not moral one, to the wrongdoings of military dictators or civilian autocrats. It was for the first time in the history of Pakistan that the superior judiciary and its subordinate judiciary down to the district level had resisted the bureaucracy and the military in such big numbers.

Initially, after the unceremonious and illegal suspension of the chief justice of Pakistan on March 9, 2007, and then again after the imposition of emergency on November 3, 2007, they took a clear position. They were fully supported by the bar who in turn mustered a lot of strength from civil society and the media. Standing up against the dictator was one factor and the pro-people decisions which irritated the elitist bureaucracy was the other, which made many people side with the chief justice and the lawyers' movement. Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and his colleagues were not angels and their immediate reinstatement after February 2008 elections would not have resolved all issues we face. However, it could have been a leap towards restoring the confidence of people in their constitution, legal system and democratic ideals. The party that lost most lives in the lawyers' movement and whose leaders literally took the front seat including their chairperson promising on November 13, 2007, to hoist the national flag on the chief justice's residence, and the party whose participation kept the movement liberal and progressive, ditched the movement just on the whims of a part of its leadership and ill-advised pressure from abroad. This was based on expediency and a lack of understanding. While I firmly believe that parliament must call the shots and politicians, good, bad or ugly, must continue to make decisions, fundamental changes in Pakistan's social, economic and political structure are needed to keep democracy intact and wrestle the country out of its present struggle with poverty, injustice, bigotry and terrorism. If the democratic and pro-people Ali Ahmed Kurd doesn't win, not only the dwindling lawyer's movement will face even harsher adversarial winds, but the mobilisation of concerned citizens and the consciousness raised among people in the name of constitutional rights will go into the hands of the misleading religious Right led by people like Qazi Hussain Ahmed and ideologically confused politicians like Imran Khan. The incumbent government has to take a long-term view not only if they are interested in true democratisation but also if they wish to survive in power. The writer is an Islamabad-based poet and rights campaigner. Email: harris@spopk.org