Adil Najam
I realize that Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry has much, maybe too much, on his plate right now. And all of immense consequence. He and his court will be judged on how they deal with these monumental issues. But they will also be judged on whether they can give the ordinary Pakistani a confidence in the justice system.
That sense of confidence – now lacking – is as consequential to Pakistan’s future as any other decision that this Chief Justice and this court will make. For that reason alone, one hopes that Mr. Chief Justice will take heed of this news report. So should all of us.
I do not have enough details of this case to make up my mind. But that is not the point. The point is that these parents who have lost their daughter deserve justice to be served. Deserve to find out what really happened. Deserve to bring closure to their immense loss.
Every Pakistani deserves that.
This is sad story indeed. And it should be investigated and any wrongdoers brought to justice.
Unfortunately, Pakistan remains an unjust feudal society at its core where millions are held as slaves, and it is currently ruled by these brutal feudal lords in the name of democracy.
The Pakistani landlord’s “private prisons” came in sharp focus recently, during Hillary Clinton’s visit, with the news of 170 peasants being held against their will by Sindhi landowners, in violation of the court orders.
A 2004 study by the International Labor Office (ILO) estimated that there are up to a million haari families in Sindh alone, the majority living in conditions of debt bondage, which the U.N. defines as modern-day slavery. Last fall, Pakistan’s Daily Times newspaper quoted the labor minister of neighboring Punjab province as saying that landlords hold millions of forced laborers in “private prisons” across the country.
http://www.riazhaq.com/2009/11/slavery-survives-in -south-asia.html
Extremely sad.
Lack of justice and rule of law is eating away our country like a disease. This case only represents the callous and indifferent attitude of our so called custodians of security and justice. And this is only one example. There are thousands and thousands of other ordinary citizens of Pakistan who are victims of injustice, oppression and exploitation. I wonder if the Chief Justice simply has the means to deal with all those cases and provide justice.
The whole outlook of our society, mindsets and style of governance has to change. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan has to go back to the basics of morality, honesty, fairplay, equality and justice. While every citizen has a role to play, our leaders and the government have a bigger responsibilty of setting examples.
The Chief Justice has the capacity and the powers to initiate this change at least in his domain. Root out corruption, delays and inefficiencies from our courts. Let only honest, competent and God-fearing people sit on a judge chair. Make people accountable for their mistakes and wrong-doings. Give people back their confidence and hope in a fair, honest and capable justice system in Pakistan.
Surly a test for CJ, if he is too busy may be he can direct any of his subordinate to look into the case but if he negates this one, people might just lose trust in him as well
Sad sad event. But why would teh SHO not register an FIR? And why would the maulvi say that the girl will go to higher heaven and was shaheed?
Amazing.
Very unfortunate… Instead of indulging in high profile cases, CJ needs to make justice accessible to ordinary citizens of the country.