Congratulations to the Pakistani Nation and Judges

March 16th 2009 marked a new day in the history of Pakistan. This was the day when a two year struggle by the civil society, lawyers, media and politicians produced significant gains. Judges who refused to accept illegal demands of civil and military dictators were reinstated through an executive order. Earlier lawyers from the PPP who were leading figures in the lawyers movement from 9th March 2007 took a u turn regarding their stance on the restoration of the judiciary. After getting senior positions in the government they started propogating their own views. They claimed that the deposed judges cannot be restored through an executive order. According to them the parliment has to pass a bill regarding the restoration of judges. However, lawyers like Aitzaz Ahsan, Ali Ahmed Kurd, Munir Malik etc. claimed that a simple executive order is enough for their restoration. The government adopted a divide and conquer strategy for restoring the judges of their choice. They asked some judges to take fresh oath. Majority of the PPP legislators decided not restore some of the judges. Even a few hours before the announcement those legislators kept on claiming that restoration of the CJ was out of question. Alas, truth prevailed and the judges are being restored through an executive order.

This did not deter the civil society, lawyers and media from fighting for establishing the rule of law. They fought relentlessly and were not scared of detentions, teargassing and other state atrocities. Hats off to them for thei valour and determination. This movement could not have succeeded without them. This movement would not have produced the desired results if either one of them had backed out.

At the same time I would like to express my gratitude to General Ashfaq Kiani and Lt.Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha who did not let the sytem collapse. They gave confidence to the Prime Minister and civil leadership that they can handle the affairs themselves. Ofcourse the played their role and perhaps even guided the leadership. However, they did not take things into their own hands. They have set a trend for the future military leadership who will only focus on their professional responsibilities.

Perhaps this was the most popular movement after the creation of Pakistan in 1947. We have proved to the world that we are not a failed state or a bunch of extremists. We believe in the rule of law and will fight peacefully to achieve our goal. Our success today does not mean that this is the end and law will be supreme. This is just the beginning. We’ll have to keep fighting with the same spirit and valour. We have realized that this is OUR country and only WE can put it on the path of prosperity. With a sincere desire to fight we can easily achieve our goals very peacefully.

Is Pakistan a Failed State? NO

Since the last few years Pakistan has been portrayed as a failed state. Our own supposed head of the states have portrayed Pakistan as a den of extremism where nobody can control the situation. They claimed that the stability of the country is linked to them being in office. Ofcourse, they had their own vested interests because of which they went around the world saying such stuff.

The last two years brought about a new unseen vibrancy in the Pakistani society. God bless Musharraf who tried to tame the judiciary which in turn led to one of the most popular movements in the history of Pakistan. This movement has been going on since the last two years, though there have been breaks at different stages and it appeared that the movement has died.Yet the lawyers, civil society and the media did not let the movement fail. 

When people were asked to donate for reducing Pakistan’s loans, they donated generously. After the 2005 earthquake people helped out their country men by donating food, cash etc and also worked for their rehabilitation. Youth organized relief camps even though they had no experience of doing such things.During the last two years Pakistanis have appeared in large numbers for expressing their anger towards the establishment. Pakistani youth have willingly spent time in jails their only fault being their desire to protest the state atrocities. Students from elitist institutions who were considered to be ignorant of the ground realities came out on the streets in a very organized manner. They made posters, wrote brochures, countless blog posts highlighting the need for establishing rule of law in the country and their desire to put our beloved country back on track. They realized that this is our country and we will work for its correction. The journalists and lawyers could not be stopped by police batons and teargas. They bravely fought them. Lawyers stayed in prisons, under house arrest for months. A senior lawyer  Munir A Malik was tortured so much that he started suffering from kidney problems. Yet he refused to budge from his stance. Private news channels were put off air, and anchors were not allowed to appear on the screen. But they came back with full enthusiasm. Section 144 was imposed at regular intervals yet lawyers, civil society, political activists came out on the streets with more enthusiasm. A sitting chief justice was manhandled by the police, illegaly put under house arrest with his family. With constant struggle he came back and delivered justice and tested the nerves of those who were in power. The movement for the rule of law has been going on since the last two years. It has taken down one of the most powerful generals the country has seen and now they are about to take on a civilian dictator. The movement started at a time when it appeared that the concience of the Pakistani society has died down and nobody has the will or the courage to fight for their rights. However different segments of the society have shown their unseen valour and motivation.

Can anybody claim that Pakistan is a failed, unstable state which cannot be controlled? My answer is NO. The Pakistani nation has proved to the world that they are the masters of their destiny. Anybody who tries to mess with them can miserably fail and will be made to pay for the conequences. They have taken down one of the most powerful generals the country has seen and can take down anybody who comes in their way. Our nation just needs a direction and a vision. They have the will, the motivation and determination to put their beloved country on the path of prosperity. May Allah grant us success. AMEEN.

Containers on Islamabad Highway

On my way home in the afternoon I took pictures of the containers that had been placed on the Islamabad highway. For those of you who are familiar with Islamabad/Rawalpindi these pictures were taken at the Faizabad flyover. There were only three or four containers present at that time.