Heavens Did Fall In Pakistan
By Naeem Malik
12 November, 2007
Countercurrents.orgChief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan,
Iftikhar Chaudry on being re-instated to the post of
the Supreme Court earlier this year stated "Courts
have to do justice even though the heavens may fall".
It seems, at least in Pakistan the heavens have
fallen. The Army has become the sole authority within
the country. It is not only responsible for the
defence of the country's borders the army controls the
country's political institutions and with the new
martial law has now brought the judiciary under its
control. For the people of Pakistan, at least those
families that include the disappeared among their
loved ones it must be hell on earth.Musharraf as Commander in Chief of the Army suspended
the constitution of Pakistan on the 3rd of November
2007 and issued a Provisional Constitutional Order.
His actions amount to the declaration of a martial law
although for appearance sake he likes to call it an
emergency. He further sacked all the judges, including
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and appointed
new judges and forced them to take oath under the
Provisional Constitutional Order. Since the 3rd of
November thousands of individuals are arrested
including lawyers, judges, human rights activists,
political activists and journalists. Independent News
media has been blocked within Pakistan. Journalists
trying to report the events of the week have been
beaten up and some arrested. Among the leading lawyers
arrested are Asma Jehangir, Aitazaz Hasan and other
eminent lawyers including some of the ones who
petitioned the Supreme Court against Musharraf's
candidacy for the Presidential elections that took
place in October this year.Since the declaration of Martial law several military
ordinances have been issued. The most draconian of
them, issued on the 10th of November allows civilians
charged under crimes that come under the security and
defence of the country to be court marshalled. Under
this act civilians would lose any protection against
the abuse of power by law enforcement and other
government agencies. This ordinance will allow law
enforcement agencies to arrest and prosecute alleged
terrorists without an arrest warrant and those
arrested or their families would no longer be able to
petition the country's courts to produce those held in
the courts. It is a draconian measure introduced in
the country without discussion by the country's
legislative bodies. One of the key arguments Musharraf
used for declaring martial law against the judiciary
was that the courts were hearing petitions from the
families of the missing individuals and demanding
their whereabouts and release. There are several
hundred missing people in Pakistan today suspected to
be held by the security services. Some of them are
being held for four to five years. Among the
disappeared are trade unionists, political activists,
those accused of terrorism and many others. Among the
missing may be also those who have been got rid of to
settle personal vendettas by individuals within the
Army or this who can influence them financially,
socially or politically. The new ordinance removes any
protection the citizens of Pakistan had against the
excesses of executive power. There was some hope that
the recently rejuvenated judiciary might provide the
citizens of Pakistan some protection from its ruling
junta. That hope was dashed with Musharraf declaring
Martial Law in Pakistan on the 3rd of November.So why did the army felt necessary to act in this
draconian manner? There are several circumstances that
forced the military regime to impose martial law.
First of all, Musharraf's presidential term was coming
to an end. His candidacy could have been challenged in
the country's court as it was unconstitutional.
However, under normal circumstances the military could
have relied on the country's courts to legitimise its
actions. The Chief Justice Chaudry of the Supreme
Court had already allowed several of the government's
administrative acts to be challenged. Some of the
challenges on privatisations etc were declared
legitimate by the courts. Musharraf therefore felt he
needed to change the composition of the Supreme Court
and sacked the Chief Justice before elections can be
organised. This sacking was challenged not only in the
courts but a lawyer's movement was launched
challenging the sacking across the country resulting
in huge protests all over Pakistan. These protests
ended in Karachi on the 12th of May 2007, where over
30 people lost their lives while demonstrating in
support of the Chief Justice. As a result of the
lawyers movement Justice Iftikhar Chaudry was
reinstated by the bench of the Supreme Court hearing
his petition. With Chaudry's reinstatement, the
dubious "Doctrine of Necessity" that had given
legitimacy for the military to rule Pakistan since the
middle of the last century was buried once and for
all. Previous justices have been validating military
rule under this doctrine. The dubious argument was
that if it was done it must be necessary and if it was
necessary than it must be lawful. Musharraf wanted to
declare Martial Law before the re-institution of
Justice Chaudry Iftikhar. He was prevented from acting
at the insistence of the American Secretary of State,
Condolizza Rice. Musharraf's candidacy was challenged
and it was commonly felt that the Supreme Court bench
hearing the petition was about to give a decision
against Musharraf's candidacy. This time he decided to
move and declare martial law, arrested judges,
including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
before the court can announce its decision. The
Americans, this time it seems, quietly approved the
action although publicly declaring their annoyance at
the declaration of the emergency.Another reason that prompted Musharraf to act was the
geo-political situation that Pakistan finds itself
today in the so-called "war on terror". As the
American "war on terror" takes a disastrous turn,
Pakistan finds itself under pressure to do more and
visibly so. As a result, today over 90,000 Pakistani
forces are engaged in the Pakistani areas bordering
Afghanistan. This engagement is unpopular in the
country and the common belief among the Pakistanis is
that the action is dictated by the Americans and is
however against the interest of Pakistan and its
peoples. The Lal Masjid episode is similarly thought
to have been directed at convincing the Americans that
Musharraf's regime is serious about Pakistan's
position as being the frontline state in the war on
terror. This is not the first time Pakistan's military
has allowed the country to be used in this way. In
Ayub's military rule, Pakistan played a key role in
the cold war and U2 planes flew from Peshawar spying
on the Soviet Union. In 1962, one such plane was
brought down by the Soviets that exposed Pakistan's
involvement in the cold war. Pakistan was the key
American partner in the region as member of SEATO and
CENTO. In the seventies, Brigadier Zia, later to
become the military ruler of Pakistan, assisted King
Hussain of Jordan to remove the Palestinians from
Jordan. In the eighties, under Zia's rule the war
against the Soviet's occupation of Afghanistan was
co-ordinated through Pakistan. This introduced the
so-called Kalishnikov culture into Pakistan
brutalising Pakistani society. Musharraf today is
co-ordinating the American war on terror from
Pakistan. As a result of which areas of Pakistan are
being are being turned into battle fields. Villages in
the area are bombed daily alienating the people of the
area from its own army. Today, as a direct consequence
of Pakistan's involvement in the war on terror and
with over 90,000 Pakistani troops engaged in the area
Pakistan finds itself more alienated from its rulers
than ever before.The people of Pakistan have responded actively to the
emergency. The lawyers have mobilised opposition and
have been boycotting the courts for the last six days.
Court judges have refused to take oath under the
Provisional Constitutional Order. Journalists have
been boycotting government press conferences and have
been actively reporting the resistance to Musharraf's
Martial law. Public opinion is widely opposed to the
military regime. Internationally, Pakistanis abroad
have mobilised demonstrations outside Pakistani
embassies and consulates. In England Pakistani
communities in conjunction with other communities from
the region and other human rights activists have
organised protests in all major cities, including
London, Birmingham and Manchester. Pakistani
established political parties have not been able to
lead the struggle against Martial law as in the past.
Benazir is widely believed to be in cahoots with the
General. She also appears to be too close to the
Americans. The Islamic parties do not seem to be able
to make up their mind on whether to support Musharraf
or not. Some of them are willing to take part in the
election under the Provisional Constitutional Order
giving legitimacy to martial law. Even Benazir seems
to be more interested in elections and her position of
being allowed to be a Prime Minister for the third
time, which is unconstitutional under the constitution
that was effective prior to the 3rd of November.
Peoples of Pakistan, the Lawyers movement, journalists
and others are more interested in the re-establishment
of the constitution, the presence of an independent
judiciary and a free press. To them elections and
positions in state apparatus would not resolve the
real issues of Pakistan. Whereas in the previous
crisis the army regimes faced, politicians were
leading the peoples of Pakistan and had some
credibility. Today, this is not the case. Politicians,
least of all, Benazir, are not trusted. People of
Pakistan are not going to be satisfied with elections.
They expect a free and fair judiciary an independent
press and a democratic system that can resolve the
problems Pakistan and its peoples face. People of
Pakistan do not just want to change faces, they want
to be able to hold their rulers accountable and for
that they need an independent judiciary and a free
press. Elections are only of interest to politicians
like Benazir. America and Britain might think
elections could be a face saving exercise because they
would be able to argue that with elections they have
achieved democracy. Even Musharraf would be happy with
elections because it will give him credibility.
Elections would not satisfy the people of Pakistan.
They want a genuine democracy that guarantees them
protection from the excesses of their rulers. They
will only be able to get this with independent
judiciary and a free press that can stand to the
bullying of the political rulers, be that is the army
or corrupt politicians.Author is a civil rights activists and IT professional
in Britain. He can be contacted on [email protected]
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