In respect of my Lord the CJ of Pakistan

My lord, I venture to take the liberty of addressing you directly. But I take this liberty out of my staunch trust in you and your intention.
You are the one who upheld the freedom of judiciary by not bowing before a haughty dictator.
It was the end of 2007 when the general elections were announced by the then pseudo-democracy under the slackening grip of Musharraf. The Musharraf regime was so heavy upon people like me that they could not believe in a fair and free election under the tyrant’s thumb. I am not affiliated with any political party of Pakistan. But back in the high days of the ‘Rule of Law’ movement I felt jubilant that a new social contract for Pakistan would ultimately emerge from this movement. I longed for a new people-centered political party. The movement gave us a light in the end of the tunnel.
Hence we boycotted the election. I remember those days of hopes and dismay when I made a flag inscribed with slogans as ‘’Pakistan ka Iftikhar, justice Iftikhar-Pakistan ka Aezaz, barrister Aitzaz’’, and hung over a high on my modest home in a Pakistani village. Many of the candidates would love to call me mad. I was really mad at a new contract for this all-time-bleak country.
Later on, the martyrdom of Shaheed Benzir Bhutto turned the dictator on defensive and the election was pretty fair. A new government was formed which instilled many hopes in Pakistanis. A counter revolution took place and the Rule of Law movement lessened to reinstatement of the judiciary as it was on the eve of November 3, 2007. At last it was restored after a long procrastination on the part of the new elected government.
Now as we have an independent judiciary under your leadership so there is ample reason to expect many positive impacts in Pakistan. We are fully justified to hope for the changes the independent judiciary is all wished for.
But to date there is seen no change in the condition of the common man of Pakistan. The judiciary is now posed at loggerheads with the government over NRO and the18th Amendment.
The NRO and the 18th Amendment have virtually divided the once united lawyers into two camps. A new clash of institutions is on the move. But it gets very frightening when the top and sincere leaders of the lawyers movement term it as a clash of egos. None but Ali Ahmad Kurd and Aitzaz Ahsan express this view, the former in a straightforward way whereas the latter in diplomatic words. Lay men like us do not know the law in detail but are very much concerned at what is going on in the country. We are also unable to locate the judicial activism as sustainable as it seems an activism of an individual who leads the judiciary. A common Pakistani interprets this elitist. The common Pakistani does not take pain to go into the details of the impacts of constitutional cases. He is now left with no choice due to the increasing terrorism, high inflation, power shortage and the decade long pending cases due to the laze and haze at the district level courts. No sustainable reforms are to be seen. For instance, what reformation has to date made in the overall judicial system particularly at the civil and session courts level as most of the common Pakistanis suffer here. At the lower courts many cases take generations to go undecided. The same case filed by a grandpa is to be pursued by the grandson, and it will definitely pass to the latter’s son as a hereditary legacy. It means that for most Pakistanis justice is denied.
My lord, what the common people of Pakistan want is not the grand decisions. A few sue motto actions are unlikely to bring a panacea. The people of Pakistan want a cheap and speedy justice; and that can only be ensured by institutions making. Individual efforts and sincerity is great but there is need to think beyond the individuals, and to focus the overall reform at the judicial system. Who knows what a judiciary will be intact after 2013?
So my lord, make efforts to reform the judiciary from bottom to top so that the common people may be able to at least have a respite. Great Regards!!!
Zubair Torwali

Reclaim the mosque

It is hard to build tolerant society when state behaves like a Mufti issuing fatwas against its own citizensZubair Torwali
The mayhem in Lahore on May 28, claiming over 80 lives, should serve as an eye opener for the people who still wish a pluralistic, just and tolerant society in Pakistan. This tragedy should stimulate a rational discourse in Pakistan about the very rationale of the country. Every writer and analyst must divert his/her energies to highlight the venom and hatred groomed in our society. The civil society must unite against the forces hell bent to mould Pakistan into a state where only one sect will survive and all the rest would be dispatched elsewhere. A few weeks back I happened to read Maulana Abul Klam Azad’s interview. In his interview, Maulana Abul Klam Azad predicted a number of untoward things inflicting Pakistan. Among other things, he foresaw a sectarian strife. He unfortunately proved correct over and over again. A shameless act with regard to sectarian tolerance was constitutional amendment back in 1974 introduced by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s government to please Messrs. Maulana Maudodi & co.A few days back a Maulvi came and asked me: ''Do you regard Ahmadis as Kafir (infidels)?" I was silent. On finding me silent he shot yet another awkward question; “What about Christians and Jews and Hindus? Aren't they Kafirs?" A long silence on my part. I was silent and embarrassed but the Maulvi Saab didn't stop. Finally, I mustered the courage and firmly said: "Maulvi Saab I am not entitled to declare them infidels or Kafirs." At this, the Maulvi Saab addressed the other people there and declared that I was also an infidel as I did not regard the Ahmadis, Hindus, Christians or Jews as 'Kaffir.' I found myself in an uncomfortable situation. The Maulvi Saab did not stop here. Next Friday, I was implicitly a topic of vitriolic homily from the pulpit.How can a rational discourse be started in a society where the one party has a pulpit and a confessional license to incite while the other a poor hapless individual who believes in reason to initiate a dialogue? How can one promote a pluralistic society where one always finds himself/herself at the mouth of cannon that fires 'fatwas'? It is hard to build tolerant society where the state constitution behaves like a Mufti issuing fatwas against its own citizens.The 18th Amendment was an opportunity to roll back such official fatwas inserted in the constitution. Alas! The opportunity was not merely lost; the constitution has become even fanatic by banning a non-Muslim to the office of the prime ministership.One wonders why the governments, particularly the ones led by PPP, have always betrayed their manifesto and tarnished their apparent secular posture. The first PPP government declared one Muslim sect as infidel, the second and third fostered the Taliban in Afghanistan. The current one has further amended the constitution making it even more puritan. A member of the board of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) once told me that PEMRA was directed by our saintly Prime Minister from saintly town of Multan, Pir Yusuf Raza Gilani, to issue more licenses to religious TV channels. When asked why religious channels be generously issued PEMRA licenses, the prime minister said he was under pressure. No surprise, hence, if we witness extremism and fanaticism on the march while rationalism on the retreat. One solution is: depoliticise the mosque and reclaim it as a place of peace and spirituality.