From the way the caretaker governments in Punjab and at the Centre have been handling the affairs vis-a-vis the PML-N they seem to be bent upon confirming the more things change the more they stay the same. In the past, governments whether military or civilian, have routinely been using high-handed methods to deny the people their democratic right to stage demonstrations or hold public rallies. Events of the last few days show, like a line in a famous song "yesterday keeps comin' round" little has changed under the present interim dispensation, which is supposed to be neutral. First, the Punjab Police launched a crackdown on the PML-N workers to prevent them from welcoming their leader Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam upon return from London to face the lengthy sentences. If that was not bad enough, reports now say the party's leaders and workers who participated in the rally that was to greet Sharif at the airport are to be arrested. The police have registered at least 12 FIRs against senior PML-N leaders, including PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif, on charges of terrorism. To say the least, it is an ill-advised move, and also makes a mockery of the anti-terrorism laws.
It is sad indeed that any of this should have happened on the watch of Punjab caretaker setup headed by a public intellectual, Prof. Hassan Askari Rizvi, who through his writings has long been championing democratic rights. He needs to prove his critics wrong who say he is caretaker of only the Chief Minister's House, and stop in its tracks the attempt to institute terrorism cases against PML-N leaders, seen as singling out of one party for political victimization. Unfortunately, those at the Centre are not acting any better. According to a notification issued by the law ministry Nawaz Sharif and Maryam, imprisoned in the Avenfield reference case, are to be tried in the remaining two references inside the Adiala Jail - something without a precedent. Never before has anyone accused of corruption been tried inside a jail. That course is used only for terrorism suspects. It is hard to grasp why they are not to be tried in a regular fashion. They have appeared before the NAB accountability court dozens of times, and party leaders have come out to make a show of support for them. That did not stop the law from taking its course. So what is different now? Whosoever made that decision seems to have an urgent desire to isolate the PML-N supreme leader from the political process, without a care for the distortions the move is likely to create in the nascent democratic system.
It is a short-sighted decision, violative of the rule of law, and likely to have the opposite effect from the one sought. The two convicts/accused must be tried in an open court so that justice is not only done it is also seen to be done.