Adil Najam
The swearing in of Justice Rana Bhagwandas as the Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) of Pakistan is not a ‘historical’ event in and of itself. However, Justice Bhagwandas now has a historical opportunity before him to influence the both the history of the institution he represents (the Judiciary) as well as the history of the country.
First some points of context:
- This is NOT the first time that Justice Bhagwandas has been the Acting Chief Justice. Indeed, as the next most senior judge on the Supreme Court, he has been called on to take this role before. Regular readers of ATP would remember seeing his picture here back in January in relation to a decision on Basant that he had then given, also as ACJ.
- Remember that he is the ‘Acting’ Chief Justice; the assumption and the point of fact being that Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry is still the Chief Justice.
- Even if he were to be appointed the Chief Justice eventually, he would not be the first non-Muslim Chief Justice of Pakistan. In fact, Justice Alvin Robert (A.R.) Cornelius served on the Supreme Court of Pakistan for 17 years, nearly 8 years of those as Chief Justice. Indeed, he is widely regarded as amongst the most respected and well-known Pakistanis to have held that office.
Indeed, it is a little disconcerting that his taking over this office – which was the procedurally appropriate thing to be done – is raising such attention. It is doing so, partly, on the assumption that the appointment of Justice Javed Iqbal as ACJ before him had some sinister purpose. Largely, it is because most Pakistanis have only just realized that Justice Bhagwandas is a practicing Hindu, and there are clearly those who want to make this an issue, even questioning his appropriateness for that reason. It is also, I think, that people’s faith in the judicial process is so low that they assume that he will soon, necessarily, assume the office of the Chief Justice. (It should be added that he is slated to retire at the age of 65, which happens this December; Justcie Iftikhar, on the other hand, does not retire till 2013).
Justice Rana Bhagwandas is – as, in fact, was Justice Javed Iqbal before him – considered to be a highly respected judge of high intellectual caliber and personal integrity. Born in 1942, Justce Bhagwandas became a lawyer like many other educated Sindhi Hindus and also has a post-graduate degree in Islamic studies and is considered an expert on constitutional law. He was a practising lawyer for about two years before being appointed to the bench in July 1967; he became a judge of the Sindh High Court in 1994; and of the Supreme Court in 2000. A challenge to his appointment to the higher judiciary on the grounds that he was a non-Muslim was dismissed by the Sindh High Court in 2002.
It is (a) because the prescribed procedure was followed here in his appointment, and (b) because he is a highly respected judge and a constitutional expert, that one should focus on this appointment. He is obviously aware of the historical decisions ahead of him. His first statement after taking his oath could be misconstrued as over-enthusiastic but one would like to believe that there is no hidden message in this statement and he is merely being diplomatic. According to The News:
Acting Chief Justice of Pakistan (ACJP), Rana Bhagwan Das has said that the presidential reference against Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry would be dealt with adequately. Talking to the media after taking oath as ACJP, Justice Bhagwan Das told that the Supreme Judicial Council would be taking a decision on the issue of holding the hearing of the reference in open or in camera. He said that the judiciary would not disappoint the people and the nation would soon hear the good news.
The history of the Pakistan Supreme Court and of Justices in this situation is a ‘busy’ one. Too busy, in my opinion. But it is not an even one. There have been shameful examples when the courts have allowed themselves to become tools in the hands of military and political leaders; but there have also been times when the Justices have made the nation proud by standing up to all pressures and deciding solely on the merit of the cases.
Judges, of course, love to hear about precedent. Here, the precedence lies in both direction. The question is, which precedent will Justice Rana Bhagwandas follow?
For anyone interested in the history of the Judiciary in such cases – both good and bad – do watch this very informative BBC report on the subject.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_gE39xhnm0w
Neena, so what are you trying to say…? You mean Benezir did wrong? or are you implying that he was a controversial judge since other PPP members had objected to his appointment in 1994?
I don’t understand your comment.
Remember the best judge is a person who is hated by political parties, police, military and bureaucracy. A person who will fight for the civil rights and liberties of the people of Pakistan will always be hated by the establishment.
There was a good suggestion in letters to editor, Dawn to have Musharraf take an additional responsibility of Chief Justice of Pakistan. All it needs is a minor adjustment to Pakistan’s so called Constitution. I’m sure the Law Minister can extend his “long arm” to make it happen!!
I like to add he became a judge of the Sindh High Court in 1994 only when Benazir intervened personally as even some in PPP were against the appointment.
Babbi, your comments about madrassa students are valid. Also your concern that we should condemn the madrassa’s at the loudest to pacify the West.
I have been a strong critic of madrassa’s/mullaism all my life. To me religion is a personal thing and should not be exploited.As someone told me long time back “The last resort of a scoundrel is to exploit religion”
However having said that, let me assure you that it does not matter to the West whether you have madrassa or mullaism and that is simply an excuse to suit the timings of creating an issue. Turkey and Malaysia have no madrassa’s. These are extremely modern countries and the question of Mullaism in these countries cannot be imagined, yet Turkey has fought to become a part of EC for last 20 years without success. Recently the pope on his visit to Turkey finally made a positive statement in favor of Turkey’s membership…that was however a lip service. With all the friendship between Turkey and USA, imagine if today Turkey tries to go nuclear!! You think the friendship will last? Yet Israel and India continue to develop nuclear arsenals.. These two countries have more radical religious fundamentalists.
The real problem is not madrassa’s or maulvi’s but a greater Christian religious issue. The Christian right and Neocons really belief that ultimately the world will end and resurrection will only take place if the Muslims are defeated in the ultimate fight of religions and state of Isreal is preserved. That to them is the ultimate destiny of this world. I think there is a similar belief among radical Muslims {Mullah) that ultimately the world will be conquered by Muslims and Islam will be the only religion left. Call it madness if you like, I do!
So you can give away the Madrassa’s, choke the maulvi’s or demolish the mosques, you cannot pacify the West because it is a greater threat than Communism ever was. If anyone has ever listened to Michael Savage with over 20 million audience in USA or Rush Limbaugh or Ann Colter, you would realize what I am referring to. These are powerful voices in the USA..
However the West understands that Mulla’s can be controlled locally within their own countries and do not have a capacity to launch destructive warheads to West. The real concern is the nukes that Pakistan has and that too at the sole disposal of a military man without checks and controls. That is a dangerous situation and here’s my prediction for 2008;
The greatest danger that Pakistan faces in 2008 or soon after the Taliban’s issue is settled;
Pakistan will be declared a terrorist state (maybe right after 2008 when Democrats come in power). There will be pressure on Pakistan to revert back to Democracy, roll back the nuclear progress or be isolated with economic sanctions. The reason will not be madrassa’s or maulvi’s, the reason will be AQ Khan (who was made the escape goat)and our irresponsible actions of supplying nuclear tech to Libya and N Korea. This is presently a dormant issue because of the war on terror. The Pakistani military by their actions and greed has put the entire nation of Pakistan at risk (more so then even Osama, in the long run). It is a known fact and was elaborated in several newspapers in the West that the deal of transfer of nuclear technology to Libya was for a price of $160 million. This money never came in the coffers of State Bank of Pakistan but siphoned directly into foreign accounts of the Generals. The idea of AQ Khan using C 130 planes for shipment of centrifuges to Libya without the Army knowledge is unthinkable if not a joke.
Frankly, I do not condemn the West. Apart from the religious reasons, I think they have every right to be weary about our state and the potential threat of having a failed state carry a nuclear warhead. To me the danger is not to the West but to Pakistanis themselves. I fear that one day a General will launch a nuclear warhead against one of our own provinces; maybe Sind or Baluchistan or Waziristan if ever there is an uprising and they fail to subdue the people by conventional force. I don’t think they will ever have the guts to use it on an outside force. See Musharraf’s book “In Line of Fire” where he writes that, “that we were told that the U.S. would bomb Pakistan “back to the Stone Age” if it did not cooperate with Washington in the war on terror following the Sept. 11 attacks”. This was Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage who later told Fox that the Army General of Pakistan’s Intelligence left that meeting shivering after he was told”.
MSNBC host Joe Scarbourough in his nightly address could not stop laughing. He was amazed by the fact that Musharraf would insult himself by putting that in his book. He thought Musharraf ridiculed and humiliated himself by showing such weakness… even though he headed a nuclear power???
Is this an Army that can dare use a nuke on anyone. Yes it is tough enough to drag a CJ by hair or beat or have beaten unarmed citizens to pulp..or murder Bughti by a precision missile (unheard of in modern times)
The ultimately demise of Iraq was the result of irresponsible Military dictatorship and people are paying the price. The ultimate demise of Pakistan will be due to similar consequences and not because of madrases. The real madrases lie in the heart of Cantonments and the evolution of Defence Societies!
Is this issue dead?
http://www.khabrain.com/htmls/pg6.htm