Adil Najam
The judiciary issue remains an irritant to the mainstream political forces in Pakistan – including not just the current establishment but the current opposition forces struggling to become part of the new establishment.
The announcement from Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif that they intend to restore the judiciary within 30 days of the formation of the parliament is good news. But given the constitutional shenanigans that we have all become used to it remains unclear (a) whether they will be ‘allowed’ to do so, and (b) if so just what form a ‘restoration’ might take.
More importantly, this announcement is a recognition of the political reality that the judiciary issue has become. Thanks, in part, to the tenacity and sagacity of Aitzaz Ahsan – who has not emerged as the key leader not only of the “Justice Movement” but of a larger civil society rising – the issue not only survives, but thrives. It never really was just about the Chief Justice, and is now clearly about much more – especially including the independence of the judiciary as an institution, about the rule of law, and about the sanctity of the constitution.
The call for the Lawyer’s Black Flag Week comes from Aitizaz Ahsan in his capacity as the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, but it is clearly a call that he makes in his stature as a now national leader of a national civil movement. It is a passionate call. A well-worded call. A heart-felt call. A non-partisan call. A call to support constitutionalism. A call that asks no one to break the law, but everyone to register their calling. It is a call that is compelling.
We have admired Aitizaz’s political acumen as well as his poetic instincts in previous posts. He rises above the fray once again in how he words this call for “Black Flag Week.”
Time for a final n decisive push
Time for showing door to Mush
Mush may not like to see
But our eyes are open and we do see
Time for a final n decisive push
Time for showing door to Mush
For wuklas:
Awakening never should be local but global. Judiciary may be the beginning but the road ahead is littered with debris of many an institution. Never forget the rules of engagement and norms of graceful victors.
We must paint the country black and show solidarity with our judges, my post below says it all and is worth a read:
http://www.otherpakistan.org/black-flag-week.html
Feimanallah Pakistan
Wasim
adil:
i disagree with this call by aitezaz ahsan
only yesterday i wrote on this issue on my blog. this is what i wrote:
FIR Against Lawyers
If there is a loss of a single life
If public property is damaged
If there is violence
because of this protest week by the lawyers
then an FIR should be lodged in that city holding Aitezaz Ahsan and that city’s Lawyers’ Association responsible
why?
because the new parliament is about to be sworn in in a few days and all this protest against Musharraf and the caretakers government is so senseless and futile. If educated lawyers resort to these plebeian measures than what can we expect of the more uncouth ?
Zinda hain Wukla Zinda Hain
Zinda hain Adliya Zinda Hain
Very inspiring call at a defining moment in Pakistan.