THE WAY IT WAS – 85
(An Article on Justice Nasim Hassan Shah's Interview to GEO)
Mian Ijaz ul Hassan - January 04, 2004
There is nothing like the law if it is on your side. Justice (r) Naseem Hassan Shah’s interview to GEO was revealing. I admire his courage to recount the conduct of a panel of Supreme Court Judges that adversely reflects on the conduct of Shah Sahib himself. Justice (r) Naseem Hassan Shah was asked three questions by the interviewer. Shah Sahib had the courage - others might say temerity - to give three honest answers. I cannot exactly formulate the three questions and Shah Sahib’s replies but they were in their essence somewhat as follows.
Q.1. Why is the Judiciary so favourably inclined towards the army regimes and indifferent to civil governments?
Justice (r) Naseem Hassan Shah’s answer to this was simple and honest
A. They have rifles and we have our jobs to protect.
Q.2. Was there any ‘advice’ from above in the Bhutto case?
A. I am not aware that any ‘advice’ was given, but I suppose the Chief Justice must have been ‘advised’ and if he was ‘advised’ then he must have passed the ‘advice’ to the other judges on the bench.
Q. Do you think that Bhutto was justly hanged?
A. I think Bhutto’s council Yahya Bukhtiar handled the case badly. When the panel of judges asked him what he thought should be Bhutto’s punishment, he retorted that Bhutto should not be punished at all and should be allowed to go free. This annoyed the judges and they hanged him.
Like a Shakespearean character that has come to realise his tragic error, Shah Sahib confessed that whenever he thought of it he felt sorry for what happened. A citizen of our country, who was also the Prime Minister, was hanged and the Law feels sorry for it after three decades. Justice(r) Naseem Hassan Shah has taken an honest step towards his personal redemption. May God give him courage to pursue the matter to its logical end!
Will the judiciary have courage to take on Justice(r) Naseem Hassan Shah for his revelations, or have the will to review the heinous judgement in the light of the malafide intent as revealed by Justice(r) Naseem Hassan Shah, only time will tell. Certainly these are matters, which a self-respecting nation and our honourable courts cannot ignore indefinitely. I am afraid with a few exceptions the silence of the PPP on the subject has baffled not only their supporters but all those who believe in justice and the supremacy of law.
There is a saying that in order to speak one lie, one has to fabricate a hundred more. It is always best to acknowledge mistakes instead of perpetrating them by making a dozen more. It is never too late, as they say to start on a clean slate. Many such common sayings have become platitudes and we use them without thought, just to garnish our thoughts. They have been around ever since I don’t know when. There must be some wisdom attached to them if they have survived for so long. I wonder what would our esteemed judiciary have to say on the archaic subject of telling lies and accepting mistakes?
Pakistan started with a dream, with faith in its honest hardworking people; trust in democracy, justice and firm hope in a bright future. What a mess we have made of that dream. Out of fifty-six years of its existence, dictators have usurped half the time. Jinnah had very clearly stated - allow me to repeat it for those who suffer from amnesia – that Pakistan would be a federation and have a secular parliamentary democracy. His views on theocracy, the role of the army, the judiciary, the executive, are as clearly stated as a television commercial. Distortions that have been incessantly made to the Quaid’s vision of Pakistan, to serve changing political interests of the ruling generals and religious fanatics, are common knowledge and need no comment.
Jesus Christ on the cross apparently appealed to God and said, “Lord forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” Can a nation and its people forgive those who know only too well what they have been doing? Quick fixes never work. There are no short cuts to the right solutions. Honest men don’t make deals. Pragmatism has become an innuendo for opportunism and betrayal. The Constitution can be torn up like a piece of toilet paper, but Ordinances in whatever Legality they are framed can neither help to make you look good nor keep the backside clean. “Bharian gallan dey bharay nateejay” or in other words, bad deeds lead to a bad end. And yet one never learns.
The only real lesson of history has been that no one learns from it. It is said that the difference between a wise man and a fool is that while the wise man makes new mistakes, a fool continues to repeat the old ones. In the light of our experience what would you say, what catagory do we belong to? To avoid a misunderstanding, let may quickly add, nations are never made of fools, it is the individual who is foolish.
One of the great failings of our country has been the rhetorical patriotism. Patriotism in our case has become an anachronism, insisting in preserving the things as they are. It seems to have become the reserve of those who are in uniform - the greatest beneficiary of patriotism. Most gentlemen in uniform consider citizens in plain civilian clothes essentially wanting in patriotism. How sad? Indeed how tragic that they should think so?
Quite frequently civilian governments, which are ‘helped’ by the generals into government, also regard the opposition as unpatriotic and enemy agents. Patriotism is a convenient weapon in the hands of those who wield power to harass undesirable individuals and political parties. In the nineties when elected governments were trying to normalise relations with India, it was regarded as unpatriotic. Ten years later – a decade wasted –it is being now accepted as something in our best national interest.
The generals genuinely feel that in order to protect National integrity and sacred borders of the country the unpatriotic people of the country must be made to surrender their constitutional rights. They are actually convinced that the people of our country are incapable of governing themselves. What is worse, most of them cannot get the PPP out of their mind and BB out of the PPP.
The people are illiterate and cannot distinguish right from wrong. The others who are literate or educated are persons of dubious loyalties.
What an interesting life for a trapeze artist. He could swing from pillar to post and then go and reside on a tree. He could then lead the peaceful life of a monkey. Alternatively he could learn to dance to martial notes and not anger the judges. Delete B’s and P’s from the political vocubulary.justice might then be done.
|
