The Lawng March

Ex-general Pervez Musharraf did to the 11/3 judges what every general does to his officers -- maneuver them into a situation where they have to fight for their survival and save the general's skin. However, there is a difference between judges and army officers. Whereas army officers are trained in a vacuum in such a way that they become totally devoid of morality and conscience and care only about career advancement until they retire and come in contact with the real world, the judges are constantly involved in human disputes and ethical arguments which keeps their conscience alive. Infact, the law is the conscience of the society.

The legal/judicial fraternity of Pakistan has refused to digest the indignity of 11/3 and has demonstrated exemplary fortitude and unanimity in the struggle to restore the sanctity of the oath which is the foundation of the legal ethics. The betrayal of an oath is moral death, especially if it is from a judge. However, one good thing about the campaign is that the black sheep in the ranks of the legal/judicial fraternity have become marked. One wonders why Qasuri has not yet received the same treatment as Niazi.

The NRO-sanitized rulers of Pakistan obviously can not be bothered about such non-vulgarities as justice and fairplay. The people who do not feel ashamed about breaking written and signed pledges can hardly be expected to understand the significance of an oath.

The way things are moving in Pakistan, a civil war seems inevitable. If it will result in the purging out of undesirable elements as in the French revolution or the stronger unification of the nation as in USA, let it happen now rather than later. But in so doing we shoud be prepared to simultaneously fight an external aggression as in the case of the Bolshevic revolution in Russia.

Coming back to the judicial crisis in Pakistan, the 11/3 judges were judges before they committed the cardinal sin and need not be told the basics of judicial propriety. They have had a year to recuperate from the trauma of 11/3 and should be able to recall their courage and conscience to take the right decisions.