Weakening the civilian rule

By Siddiq Baluch

Military ruled Pakistan with an iron fist for over three decades. Military interventions were visible in the quasi civilian rule of 1950s and against 1990s giving a complete picture that the civilians were not powerful and democratic institutions were subservient to other institutions. Following the NRO controversy, the present civilian Government had weakened as a result of the political parties, particular friendly to the sitting Government, blocking the way to approve it on the floor of the Assembly first.

Two major parties withdrew their support for obvious reason to create trouble for President Zardari. Later on, pro-establishment forces in politics, media and other institutions joined hands to humiliate the sitting President and weaken the civilian Government that tried to create a balance between the Army and the civilian rule. Earlier, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif made similar attempts to curtail the power of the Army and that had proved disastrous. People had witnessed the results. Only a military dictator humiliated the superior judiciary and removed the Chief Justice with full contempt.

Primarily, it was the fake criminal and corrupt cases instituted against the political opponents. The Government could not prove the cases against them in courts of law for over a very long period. In case of Balochistan alone, more that 85,000 cases were registered against the Baloch people in 1973-78. Hardly in few cases, speedy trial courts, announced judgement on the basis of bogus and fictitious evidence on the instructions from the officers incharge of military operations. One of the concocted cases was against Mir Ali Ahmed Kurd, a former President of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association. Police recovered an explosive device from his possession and the speedy trial court judge, who was later promoted to the status of Chief Justice of Sindh High Court, convicted him shamelessly. Baloch people remained victims of concocted cases for long. There must be tens of thousands cases still pending.

This scribe was charged with murdering 22 people in cold. In each case, a brutally honest Sessions Judge granted bail of insignificant amount after summery proceedings rejecting the charges that a renowned journalist of Pakistan fame in 1970 can kill so many people. At the end of the day, the Government allowed this scribe to go home pending all the concocted murder cases. Habib Jalib was also charged with concocted cases.

Primarily, General Pervez Musharraf had committed a mischief and he had favoured the MQM by bracketing the criminal cases of Karachi disturbances in 1980s and 1990s in the NRO in order to favour the MQM. In a way, he paid pack to the MQM for its support during his presidential rule.

If the criminal cases of Karachi disturbances were kept separate, it would have been easy to sort it out. In any case, it is the duty of the Government to prove the cases in courts of law. It is inhuman and illegal to keep people years as under trial prisoner. Asif Zardari was kept as a hostage for more than eight years merely because his party was not following the political line of the Pakistani establishment. On the contrary, a judge of the speedy trial court in Karachi tried to push the criminal case against Asif Zardari on the advice of former Sindh Chief Minister, late Jam Sadiq Ali, against the will of the real Pakistani establishment; the judge was gunned down in broad daylight in Karachi for defying the Establishment. PPP is the biggest political party in this country and it is not depended on the skill and abilities of a few individuals holding important positions in the present Government.

Thousands of others are ready to replace them. It will not affect the party. However, the establishment wanted to settle score with those unwanted people and hopefully the party will defend them in courts of law. Presumably for this, the PPP decided not to defend the NRO in the Supreme Court and let it announce the judgement expected by the people long before since there was no party to oppose the case in the Supreme Court. On the day of long march, the Pakistani establishment came in support of PML-N Leader seeking restoration of judiciary. The message was clear from that day which compelled the Government to restore the Chief Justice or the superior judiciary. However, it is unfortunate, that there are certain elements trying to weaken the civilian rule at this critical juncture when armies of the foreign countries are deployed on our borders in all directions posing a threat to security of Pakistan. The Pakistani media, part of the Pakistani establishment, is involved in destabilizing the present political order at the behest of the vested interest.

(The writer is the editor-in-chief of Daily Balochistan Express and Daily Azadi, Quetta)