Just trying this out...
Pakistan's Ban on Facebook
15 years ago
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
The judiciary and its many musings..
I did promise to follow up my earlier blog entry with more insight into the life of Jinns but have been inspired by a recent blog by Mr. KK to may be vent my frustrations over the socio-political outlook of this nation.
One of my earliest memories as a kid growing up was following my father up the steps of my grandparents house when he returned from work. It was not uncommon for him to come home late from the office as he was then a young lawyer with a few years under his belt trying to support a wife and two boys who probably got up to more mischief than he could imagine.
I fondly remember walking up the tiled, narrow staircase behind his flowing black coat and the ticking noise made by his shoes as he climbed up the stairs to his room with me and my brother complaining about how our mother screamed at us in the morning. Perhaps it was this image in my mind that inspired me to become a lawyer myself, perhaps it was a case of law being all I saw while I grew up either way I choose to become a lawyer.
My childhood was marred with constant speculation of martial law, curfews, war with India, frequent change in governments at the whim of a strong dictator and a sticker I will never forget. Every day as I rushed out of the house to see my father's car pull up in the drive way I noticed a sticker prominently placed on his wind shield that in bold letters stated "FREE THE JUDICIARY".
Twenty years have passed and not much has changed; one dictator has been replaced by another (who has the power to turn the government on a whim) and we're still crying about the judiciary. In the last year I quit my cushy job at a respected law firm to join my father's practice and have since then spent most of my time twiddling my thumbs between court dates for as you see being a lawyer in this day and age is akin to being unemployed. I don't know how or when we lost the free judiciary all I know is we still yearn for one; every person I meet be it socially or on the street can't seem to stop talking about when or if the deposed Chief Justice will be restored.
Some people suggest that the recent judicial movement, whose key players are known to all, is a move to de-stabilise our great nation which to this day has seen no stability under any form of government and/or regime and is riddled with some of the most corrupt politicians and bureaucrats the world has ever seen. This is not to say that the judiciary is full of saints but at the very least it provided for a means where the common person could go and ask for some form of justice. In the last year that we have been embroiled in, what feels like a long running soap opera, the Chief Justice saga has evolved into a political war of power. As one local bureaucrat put it "Saeen agar aap prime minister hotay tu iss pagal ko Chief Justice chahte?" (Sir, if you were the Prime Minister would you want this lunatic to be your Chief Justice?). The answer may differ depending on who you ask it but the general consensus I feel leans towards a resounding NO.
Well perhaps these politicians are biased they wouldn't want cases against them swept aside by the NRO to be re-opened, perhaps it is simply out of fear of the man or fear that restoring him to the highest civilian office may empower him and those that follow to such a degree that elected governments can be crippled by the Courts. So perhaps we should turn to his greatest supporters for different view of the man so feared and hated by government elect of this nation.
Sadly one gets no clear picture of the greatness of the man deposed from his supporters in black coats for most of them have grown disillusioned by this whole ordeal which has now stretched for over a year and seems to be never ending. Lawyers have lost out on their bread and butter and several day to day practitioners have started looking for jobs with banks or multi-nationals in an attempt to support their families. Those with better practices seem to be wondering why this racist and unethical individual seems to be dragging down the rest of the judiciary with him.. tragically there is but one conclusion we can draw from all this some one is filling the coffers of the leaders of this movement so they may stand by their fallen colleague.
One of the main proponents of the lawyers movement is the famous politician/lawyer Ahtizaz Ahsan, who recently held a comical long march, inviting all lawyers to join his march to Islamabad to seek justice - he must have found it along the way since he decided to disband the movement on arrival at Isloo.. and seemed to have lost it during his sleep given his comments the day after.
Perhaps all this drama that plays out in front of us is an elaborate plot hatched by our present great dictator to divert the peoples attention from the more obvious realities in life; the spiralling inflation, lack of food and water for the masses and the ever present electricity crisis we have become used to. Its mind boggling when one thinks of the long power outages one has to suffer ironically as I write this sitting in my office I have no power and haven't had any since 11a.m. this morning, its 5:15p.m. at the moment. I shudder to think what or how people without a generator are surviving this hot weather. The thought of rain send shivers down my spine (they say it will rain any day now) defence is dug up, the roads are blocked and just yesterday a friend's gorgeous British Bulldog was dog-napped at gun point. My heart goes out to you bro I know what its like to loose a dog.
What are we coming to? till yesterday all I heard was so and so had their cell phone or car snatched now my dogs are in danger of being held for ransom??
Sadly amongst all this those letters printed on that sticker are ignored and manipulated for the benefit of a handful of people, tragically hip, such is Pakistan, its judiciary and democracy.
One of my earliest memories as a kid growing up was following my father up the steps of my grandparents house when he returned from work. It was not uncommon for him to come home late from the office as he was then a young lawyer with a few years under his belt trying to support a wife and two boys who probably got up to more mischief than he could imagine.
I fondly remember walking up the tiled, narrow staircase behind his flowing black coat and the ticking noise made by his shoes as he climbed up the stairs to his room with me and my brother complaining about how our mother screamed at us in the morning. Perhaps it was this image in my mind that inspired me to become a lawyer myself, perhaps it was a case of law being all I saw while I grew up either way I choose to become a lawyer.
My childhood was marred with constant speculation of martial law, curfews, war with India, frequent change in governments at the whim of a strong dictator and a sticker I will never forget. Every day as I rushed out of the house to see my father's car pull up in the drive way I noticed a sticker prominently placed on his wind shield that in bold letters stated "FREE THE JUDICIARY".
Twenty years have passed and not much has changed; one dictator has been replaced by another (who has the power to turn the government on a whim) and we're still crying about the judiciary. In the last year I quit my cushy job at a respected law firm to join my father's practice and have since then spent most of my time twiddling my thumbs between court dates for as you see being a lawyer in this day and age is akin to being unemployed. I don't know how or when we lost the free judiciary all I know is we still yearn for one; every person I meet be it socially or on the street can't seem to stop talking about when or if the deposed Chief Justice will be restored.
Some people suggest that the recent judicial movement, whose key players are known to all, is a move to de-stabilise our great nation which to this day has seen no stability under any form of government and/or regime and is riddled with some of the most corrupt politicians and bureaucrats the world has ever seen. This is not to say that the judiciary is full of saints but at the very least it provided for a means where the common person could go and ask for some form of justice. In the last year that we have been embroiled in, what feels like a long running soap opera, the Chief Justice saga has evolved into a political war of power. As one local bureaucrat put it "Saeen agar aap prime minister hotay tu iss pagal ko Chief Justice chahte?" (Sir, if you were the Prime Minister would you want this lunatic to be your Chief Justice?). The answer may differ depending on who you ask it but the general consensus I feel leans towards a resounding NO.
Well perhaps these politicians are biased they wouldn't want cases against them swept aside by the NRO to be re-opened, perhaps it is simply out of fear of the man or fear that restoring him to the highest civilian office may empower him and those that follow to such a degree that elected governments can be crippled by the Courts. So perhaps we should turn to his greatest supporters for different view of the man so feared and hated by government elect of this nation.
Sadly one gets no clear picture of the greatness of the man deposed from his supporters in black coats for most of them have grown disillusioned by this whole ordeal which has now stretched for over a year and seems to be never ending. Lawyers have lost out on their bread and butter and several day to day practitioners have started looking for jobs with banks or multi-nationals in an attempt to support their families. Those with better practices seem to be wondering why this racist and unethical individual seems to be dragging down the rest of the judiciary with him.. tragically there is but one conclusion we can draw from all this some one is filling the coffers of the leaders of this movement so they may stand by their fallen colleague.
One of the main proponents of the lawyers movement is the famous politician/lawyer Ahtizaz Ahsan, who recently held a comical long march, inviting all lawyers to join his march to Islamabad to seek justice - he must have found it along the way since he decided to disband the movement on arrival at Isloo.. and seemed to have lost it during his sleep given his comments the day after.
Perhaps all this drama that plays out in front of us is an elaborate plot hatched by our present great dictator to divert the peoples attention from the more obvious realities in life; the spiralling inflation, lack of food and water for the masses and the ever present electricity crisis we have become used to. Its mind boggling when one thinks of the long power outages one has to suffer ironically as I write this sitting in my office I have no power and haven't had any since 11a.m. this morning, its 5:15p.m. at the moment. I shudder to think what or how people without a generator are surviving this hot weather. The thought of rain send shivers down my spine (they say it will rain any day now) defence is dug up, the roads are blocked and just yesterday a friend's gorgeous British Bulldog was dog-napped at gun point. My heart goes out to you bro I know what its like to loose a dog.
What are we coming to? till yesterday all I heard was so and so had their cell phone or car snatched now my dogs are in danger of being held for ransom??
Sadly amongst all this those letters printed on that sticker are ignored and manipulated for the benefit of a handful of people, tragically hip, such is Pakistan, its judiciary and democracy.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)