An ego clash between two individuals and we witness the workings of uncertainty, instability and lawlessness in our country. Today the people of Pakistan were told that there country is afterall not in their hands the way they may have come to believe. No need to get enthusiastic about the lawyers’ movement and about independence of judiciary. It’s just the boot and the gun that calls the shots.
First it was the Saudi intelligence chief trying to teach us the law by giving the argument that the agreement came before the Supreme Court verdict. It was a very shoddy show to say the least. The Pakistani people have known more freedom than their Saudi counterparts; they have had enough of the generals to have these foreign dignitaries, tyrants at home for that matter teach us rules of democracy. And as a noted journalist put it, the Saudis deviated from tradition to make a public display of the agreement, very likely on the behest of the American establishment. Afterall Richard Boucher didn’t come to Pakistan to have a light chat with Musharraf. And the Government of Pakistan is as much responsible for the display of dirty linen that we allowed to be put up in our capital. The Saudi prince’s tone even then pointed to a possibility of deportation and now the Government is citing the press conference as that “moral pressure” on Nawaz Sharif which compelled him to accept the deportation. As if our law is going to be interpreted in foreign lands now? The deal was unjustified in the very beginning and despite the fact that foreign involvement has always been a factor in pakistani politics, Saudis and Saad Hariri, an ordinary citizen of Lebanon, should not have come public with it. No wonder,the Saudi establishment was also at the receiving end besides the government at this public rally held in Pindi right after the deportation by a handful of Nawaz supporters. And that is very unfortunate.
It is a very sad day today and it’s not like the government is not aware of the implications of this move, especially with regard to the judiciary. A contempt case could easily be taken up and the kind of show the government has put up in some recent cases, anyone can predict the outcome. In this backdrop, this deportation today is a clear call for confrontation from the government. This is a deliberate attempt to worsen the situation inside the country which could later be used a justification for some drastic measures.
Despite all the cases against him, Nawaz Sharif is undoubtedly a political leader. He is an ex-prime minister of Pakistan and the treatment meted out to him is abhorrent to say the least.
Even the Bangladeshis mock us now. We have our own unique traditions and the world can justifiably cite us in records of unconstitutionalism, of tyranny, in the coterie of failed states.
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