Stop Wasting Our Time!

For the past 65 years, Pakistan has been living on the edge, literally. The politicians as well as the heads of Armed Forces with political aspirations have ruled the country anyway which they desired, and that has unsettled the Quaid’s country, sending it backwards instead of forward. These days, the armed forces have taken a backseat with the judiciary emerging as the second force which is steering the country into oblivion, for reasons known only to those who matter.

Like every country needs a messiah once in a while, we got one in Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, or he was portrayed as one. He promised to drive the evils away and mould the nation the way our forefathers wanted it to be only to settle his personal scores. He summoned actress Atiqa Odho to the court for the infamous case where she was charged for carrying two bottles of liquor as if the rest of the country carries Zam Zam with them. The reason behind this summon was the fact that Ms Odho supported the ideology of former President Pervez Musharraf, who dismissed Iftikhar Chaudhry in the first place.

Besides the Atiqa Odho saga, we have the case of Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s son Dr Arsalan Iftikhar who has been proved guilty by renowned politician Faisal Raza Abidi on television programs. It should be noted here that the doctor’s corruption was behind President Musharraf’s decision to axe the CJ in the first place, meaning there is more than meets the eye. Although Dr Arsalan claims innocently that since he doesn’t look like a corrupt person, he is most likely not one but the claims and proofs of Faisal Raza Abidi are not only spot on but also demand attention. He is constantly asking the Chief Justice to summon him but he has not received one, may be because his proofs might seal the case against the son of the gun!

And then there is the case of the letter to the Swiss courts regarding the cases against the President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari who has immunity in the country. Everyone knows that the President is corrupt, everybody believes that the letter would not be written but even then the courts have directed all their attention to a matter that doesn’t seem to be solved any sooner. Had they done that after the country was rid of corrupt politicians, after all those politicians with fake degrees were disbarred from taking part in future elections, after the energy problems facing the country was solved, after the law and order situation improved in the country and/or after the institutions were handed over to able leaders instead of handpicked influential people, it would have seemed a step in the right direction. But since there are far more important matters that demand the Court’s attention, diverting it to one lost cause makes us wonder whether their own intentions are pure or not.

The matter of writing a letter to the Swiss Court may be resolved soon, the NRO case might get a verdict in the coming future or even Dr Arsalan Iftikhar may be cleared of all charges against him, but that doesn’t mean the people of Pakistan would start trusting the courts. They would want the Men in Black to be answerable to them for wasting their time on trivial matters instead of the pivotal issues that still stand and grow bigger!