The Verdict
Whether or not the former dictator will be punished is irrelevant. What is relevant is the symbolic precedent that has been established. For even though posterity may not remember paragraph 66, it will remember that on December 17, 2019, this nation, after prolonged experiments with dictatorship, decided that the use of force to override our constitutional values was treason.
Who Guards the Guardians?
I belong to the legal fraternity. Anywhere else in the world this would be a source of pride. In Pakistan, it is a source of shame. Here, members of the legal fraternity attack hospitals and justify their actions by referring to a childish video of a doctor mocking them. Here, egos are fragile. Here, those who are supposed to guard the law are above it.
In a Just World
This isn’t a just world, but the people who blame the victims of criminal actions still seem to be living in a utopia. That would be fine as long as that sort of thinking did no harm. Unfortunately, it gives rise to victim blaming, and because of that, we must dispel it from the minds of people.
Absolute Discretion
The rule of law is an ideal, but it is an ideal we should be striving for rather than moving away from. Our institutions do not seem to view the law as supreme rather they view the law as an unnecessary hurdle. An impractical quagmire of technicality that gets in the way. If we allow for this thinking then it leads to those in power believing that they are above the law. That is a state we must avoid at all costs.
A Case for Student Unions
Student unions can help Pakistan achieve something that it drastically needs: a development of a culture of democracy. Let students practise democracy and the workings of politics in the days when they are developing their identity. Let them learn the value of the vote. Let them learn the compromise and diplomacy that are essential qualities of leadership. As many commentators have argued, the death of student unions has resulted in a lack of good political leadership in the country. These laboratories of democracy must be reinstated.
Misdirection
For over a year, we have seen the drama of PTI versus Nawaz Sharif unfold. This has happened at the cost of the federal government getting anything of substance done. With Parliament deadlocked, the PTI must understand that it is in their best interest to extend an olive branch to the opposition. Otherwise it cannot move forward and confront the broader issues plaguing the country. They can rest assured that Nawaz Sharif is disqualified for life, his cases are ongoing, and he has been found guilty by a court of law. The PTI has made its point about corruption. If Nawaz Sharif does not return then he loses face.
Shadow of the Coloniser
This country’s struggle with colonialism did not end in 1947. Because the coloniser left its shadow looming over our legal system. Until we take out the legacy of the coloniser from our laws, from our Constitution, we will forever be held back from allowing our own people from achieving true freedom — freedom from the fear that one day the State may deem it “necessary” to suspend their rights.
The Politics of Cruelty
Once upon a time, Nawaz Sharif thought he too would always remain in power. He even thought about bestowing the title of “Amir al Muminin” upon himself. But his downfall came at the hands of Pervaiz Musharraf. Then, fairly recently, the PML-N once again seemed unstoppable. Enjoying a majority in Parliament with little realistic opposition, it seemed the PML-N was here to stay for a long time. However, the PTI ascended, and today the familiar faces of the PML-N are all in prison. The history of this country shows that power can be lost very quickly in an unstable democracy like ours.
This Country Needs Feminism
To dispel myths and stereotypes regarding women crafted over centuries requires a powerful social movement. In a country like ours where women are covertly filmed in universities and blackmailed, that movement is needed more than ever. That movement is feminism, and this country needs it.
Faith Through Force
Forced conversions are after all a part and parcel of the massive economic inequality that religious minorities face in Sindh and all over Pakistan. With many of them working under bonded labour — South Asia’s version of slavery — the abuse they are liable to suffer is extremely high. They are at the complete mercy of those they work for who freely give them up for forced conversions and marriage. The families of victims have no wealth, no influence, no power through which they can obtain justice. Try getting the police to do anything when you have none of those three.
For the Love of Our Children
The Government of Punjab has to work towards curbing the underlying causes behind sexual abuse. Once it happens, it changes the life of the children involved — that is, if they survive at all. So far, we have only been reactive, not proactive.
Lawyers as Scientists
Laws combatting social evils can only work if they are made by understanding the social reasons behind these issues and not by slapping on harsher punishments. Doing so in a perpetual cycle while expecting different results is simply following the route that defines insanity. We can do better.
Putting the Media on Trial
In a week filled with ludicrous decision-making by the PTI, its decision to establish “media courts” is perhaps the most ominous. One purpose of the courts, as given by Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, was to curb “unnecessary criticism” of government officials by the media in the name of free speech. From its very inception, this proposal lacks any use of grey matter by the Cabinet. According to Fahd Husain, in his column on Sunday, it seems like a close associate of the Prime Minister took some criticism from a television host a bit too personally. Therefore, prompting a decision of the Cabinet on the issue.
Constitutional Hardball
The most beloved tactic in the populist playbook is the exercise of legitimate powers to achieve undemocratic objectives. Dangerous, because legitimate means are used to attain illegitimate outcomes. A form of maneuvering that in 2004 was referred to by Harvard Law Professor, Mark Tushnet, as “constitutional hardball”.
Kashmir, Pakistan, and the World
No crystal ball is needed to see what will soon occur in India: once the Modi government restores some semblance of normalcy to the valley, the uprising will begin. Violence will spiral out of control; it will touch and reignite old prejudices between Hindu and Muslim in an India that grows more polarised under a man who must divide in order to rule. ‘National security’ will be used as an excuse to round up dissidents and critics who will be gleefully prosecuted on trumped-up charges under the amended ‘Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act’ with its more expansive definition of ‘terrorist’ allowing the government to designate any individual as a terrorist without due process. The spokes of tyranny are oiled and ready.
The Saffron Noose
But the true way to kill the soul of the Kashmiri people is through an idea imported from Israel. What my friend and columnist Asad Rahim Khan calls the “West Bank formula”. It is by taking the valley away from the Kashmiri people. With Article 35A gone, Modi is now free to populate Kashmir with Hindu settlers, achieving his goal of changing the demographic identity of the valley from majority Muslim to majority Hindu. The influx of settlers would not only destroy the valley’s identity, but also the valley’s natural beauty.
Aftermath: Reform the Senate
Making members of the Senate directly elected by the people will also make the argument for removing the secret ballot stronger. Because then, the people, the demos in democracy, have a right to know how their elected representatives are voting. That is a far better reason to do away with the secret ballot than the reasons being given by the opposition currently.
No Promises
One of the most recognised characteristics of the law is its responsibility to protect contractual promises. Intertwined with this aspect of the rule of law is a country’s economic growth. Build a legal system that provides sanctity to contractual relations, and you will see an upward surge in economic prosperity. Adam Smith had similar ideas in the “Wealth of nations”. In an oft-quoted paragraph, he writes that commerce seldom flourishes in states where “the faith of contracts is not supported by law”.
We Are Not Free
A country will never value free speech just because it exists in the constitution. Free speech must be developed as a culture. It must start from childhood when children ask their parents and teachers uncomfortable questions. Only when the next generation sees people debating and talking about multiple different views, without punishment, will this culture develop.
Myth of the Saviour
Our democratic values as a country are regressing instead of evolving. The systems we admire are telling in this regard. We admire China, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia — all regimes built around the myth of a modernising autocrat. In a country like Pakistan, the system of constitutional democracy cannot be taken for granted. However, given mass poverty, lack of food, water, housing, and security, vast swathes of Pakistan’s population don’t really care about arguments for long-term democratic growth if top-down power can ease their pain in a flash.