SPOTLIGHT: Judiciary's wild goose chase: the goose turns and bites!: Compensate families of all victims of security failure Mr Rehman Malik!

For a full 5 days a bloodbath was allowed to continue in Karachi particularly in Orangi before some tangible action materialised. After over 100 deaths and perhaps many more wounded, help was allowed to come to the rescue of a beleaguered town of perhaps three million people of different backgrounds.
But how about the starvations suffered by hundreds and thousands of men, women and children? How about the trauma caused to the lives of countless children and the scars that will be left on their psyche forever? How about the sick people in urgent need of medical attention, waiting in unending agony for treatment and even suffering permanent damage to their health? How about the families of those killed? Who will look after them now? How about the women and children left destitute without a bread-earner father or husband?
Behind the Karachi bloodbath
And to think much of this could have been avoided by timely action by our privileged rulers flaunting their expensive suits and colorful ties, peacock-like, never leaving their well-guarded homes without the safety and security provided by the armed guards in front and armed guards at the back, riding bullet-proof cars, all paid for by the impoverished people of this country. We saw the footage showing armed policemen "with orders to shoot-at-sight", standing at the street corners in Orangi near their vehicles and falling back several steps seeking shelter for themselves behind their transports on hearing the sounds of gunfire like the unarmed general public! We have no orders to fire, admitted some of them according to the Media people bravely covering the horrific events. The other day, we saw on TV screens, the passing out parade of the Police Commandos in which they were exhibiting feats of strength and agility.
For whose safety were they provided their expensive training? One may be forgiven for having the sneaky feeling that the delay was meant to rehabilitate the Rangers in the goodwill of the people following the incalculable damage to their role in the perception of the people, resulting from the screening of the footage of the recent gruesome murder of 17-year-old Sarfaraz Shah at the hands of 5 rangers and his death in agony. If that was the intention, it was fulfilled one hundred percent, as the Rangers were welcomed with joy and praise by the suffering multitude which saw help at hand after days of untold panic and suffering.
What about compensation Mr Rehman Malik?
There can be no two opinions about the fact that providing security and protecting the life and property of citizens is the primary responsibility of the rulers. A failure in this takes away their moral right to rule. When they fail in this vital, top priority function, they have no right to continue in power. Why should people suffer due to the rulers' failure in this respect? Why should not the rulers compensate the families of those killed whose deaths the rulers have failed to prevent? Why should not the state take care of their education, health, food and lodging till the young ones in the bereaved families are enabled to do so? Any answers President Zardari, PM Gilani, CM Qaim Ali Shah, Interior Ministers Rehman Malik and (just inducted) Manzoor Wassan, all honourable dignitaries? Are you not answerable to Allah if not to the people who put you in your luxurious homes and offices?
Judiciary's wild goose chase: the goose can turn and bite!
If the current Pakistani politics can be described as a throbbing and pulsating sphere bursting with corruption and misrule, then allegedly, Moonis Elahi (of NILC case fame) certainly sits at its vibrant center, protectively surrounded by an inner circle formed by the Chaudhrys of Gujarat (now in positions of power) and by additional reinforcing fortification provided by the PPP's (till recently inconceivable) alliance with the PMLQ - an alliance into which PPP chose to be pushed into by its compulsions to continue in office come what may! The Master of Slick Maneuver saw in the case a great opportunity to save the government and garner majority support for the crucial make-or-break Finance Bill it was vital to pass with a majority. Towards that end, it is alleged, that the NICL case was allowed to run its course till the scion of one of the famous political/feudal families in Pakistan was well and truly in detention pending the Court's verdict. With the case, proceeding like a mountain stream in full flow, the accused appeared to be headed for a big term in jail. The family heads who happen to control a political party were in a jam - exactly where they were wanted to be! In panic they were ready to do any and everything. After all, passing to one's progeny the right to rule is a prime political objective of our feudal rulers whether belonging to those in power or to the opposition waiting for its turn! So the impossible became not only possible but also feasible overnight. Pride (what remained of it) had to be swallowed on both sides and was. Presto we had a new ruling coalition in place so Moonis could get away with whatever he did or did not do and the Finance Bill could pass allowing the present rulers to continue their miserable rule for some more miserable time!
Where will the NILC tussle land us?
What an unusual volte face! All 12 witnesses retract the statements purported to have been recorded by them before the FIA team investigating the NICL corruption case against Moonis Elahi among others, a case in which efforts by the ADG FIA Zafar Qureshi (much lauded by the CJP) have traced and brought back to the exchequer looted money to the tune of billions with promise of much more to come - a rare achievement in Pakistan's corrupt governance of today. There was now an additional second reason for the Government to stop Qureshi in his tracks the first being to get Moonis off the hook. Any one appreciated by the Judiciary for diligent, honest work was to be put on ice (made non-functional). Alas a just and fruitful conclusion of the case is probably not going to happen, not soon anyway, the way the high-profile case is headed. Who engineered the apparent U-turn by the witnesses?
Options before the Judiciary
At each breach of the Judiciary's orders by the Government of President Zardari and PM Gilani, one wonders: can it get any worse, any more deliberate? There is or at least has to be, a limit! Qureshi was made ineffective on the verbal orders of the PM to transfer him out of the case. The Supreme Court asked the Government to cancel the transfer which the latter refused to do. The Court ordered Qureshi transferred back on its own. But the Government promptly suspended and sidelined him on what appeared to be trumped up charges. At the same time it transferred 4 officers of the FIA who were assisting Qureshi in the case to other locations and functions. Back to square one! So much for the Executive's claim that it respects the Judiciary and obeys its orders in letter and spirit! According to one conjecture, the idea is to while away the time - some months down the line - when Qureshi retires.
PM in the firing line?
What a bogey Qureshi has become for so many high ups among our rulers. Honesty appears to scare them. This is in line with what has happened in several other cases of action against corruption, be it that pertaining to the Swiss funds waiting to be brought back to Pakistan (remember how long ago it was that the Supreme Court ordered the reopening of the case in the Swiss courts by withdrawing the illegal withdrawal by the Government) or the Pakistan Steel Mill loot (by a steelmaker close to a high level) or the Reko Diq irregularities, or the Punjab Bank scam or the shameful Hajj swindle (allegedly touching a scion of a First Family). What is the Judiciary to do in this situation? Issue contempt notice to the PM in the NILC case and risk a major political upheaval? Sit back and be reduced to the status of an ineffective, clueless and do-nothing so-called Pillar of the State?
Sajjad/Nawaz tussle recalled
One is forced to recall a time, in the not-too distant past when, after an attack by the ruling party activists on Pakistan's Supreme Court, where the then CJP Sajjad Ali Shah was hearing a contempt case against the then PM Nawaz Sharif (on November 28, 1997), the CJP wrote to the Armed Forces Chief General Jahangir Karamat to come to the Court's help as provided in the Constitution.
I quote from the Wikipedia as follows:
"Later after the incident (attack on Supreme Court) occurred, former Chief of Pakistan Army, General (Retd) Jahangir Karamat, refused to send troops to dispel a mob attack on Pakistan's Supreme Court in 1997 (November 28, 1997) despite pleas from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court since as he said, he was obliged to uphold the constitution of Pakistan. General Karamat pointed out that there was an established chain of command and any instructions of that sort should have come from the elected prime minister and the president, who is also the supreme commander".
The Constitution
Article 190 of our Constitution under the heading: "Action in aid of Supreme Court" reads: "All executive and judicial authorities throughout Pakistan shall act in aid of the Supreme Court". General Karamat's (Retd) line of argument if accepted in-Toto, lands us into a situation where the Executive at the highest level can, with impunity, get away with defying the Judiciary by disobeying all its orders. So where do we go from here? What remedies does our Constitution provide to our Judiciary when faced with persistent disobedience and foot-dragging by the Executive? This is an area for the Constitutional experts to throw light on. Would they oblige? ([email protected])