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 vocabulary.
Justice might then be done.
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