Burney’s Betrayal
Regular visitors of Other Pakistan will know of my deep regard for Ansar Burney. I have even helped in generating funds for his work by providing a working link to his website on this blog. This post about Ansar Burney has been a long time coming and should have been written in early November. It is a post I never thought I would write for it concerns deserved criticism of Ansar Burney, who until recently was one of my heroes. It is an attempt to ‘reawaken’ the lost soul of Ansar Burney from its slumber, by a long-time supporter not an opponent.
The decision by Ansar Burney to join the unconstitutional, immoral and abominable military regime of General Musharraf in a caretaker form shocked me and many others too. Such an unholy alliance is without parallel and its stench is likewise. The two men are (or were!) poles apart in their thinking and their work for Pakistan. One is a retired general, a usurper and constitutional criminal and a serial human rights abuser. The other Ansar Burney needs neither introduction nor plaudits for he is a leading human rights worker respected the world over for his tireless work for the people of Pakistan. Such a meeting of minds (and souls?) has few parallels in human history.
One has never been surprised by the General who is a walking talking contradiction thanks to his chameleon-like desire to be all things to all people. However Ansar Burney had until recently had a ‘whiter than white’ image in Pakistan as a passionate and prominent human rights worker who never compromised on principle. Thus his decision to join Musharraf’s cabal has baffled us all and personally I suspect something untoward. It may well be that Ansar Burney too has joined the list of the disappeared and has ‘disappeared’ too and that the Ansar Burney we see on our TV screens is an impostor, and a poor double.
Unfortunately the sad reality is that Ansar Burney is one and the same and his selling out is a puzzle I find impossible to solve. As a fan of the man I ask how can a famed human rights worker like he who openly denounced summary executions in Balochistan here nearly two years ago ordered by General Musharraf then join in a government that is doing likewise today in the tribal areas and elsewhere?
Ansar Burney’s defence in joining the caretaker government has been that he has not craved public office but he chose to serve it to ensure its neutrality. He has also made much of his decision not to draw a salary for his services as a caretaker federal minister (disservice more like!) and said here that he did not accept the offer to be a federal minister for personal benefit but because he wanted to work for the betterment of human rights in the country and to ensure that free and fair independent elections take place.
Furthermore Ansar Burney defended himself in front of Mazhar Abbas on Capital Talk recently who like me bemoaned his decision to join the Musharraf regime stating that he felt he could do more for human rights if he headed the new human rights ministry as a caretaker federal minister. However his argument loses credence when he informs the nation in the same breath that he had refused similar government offers before, including important offices none less than the office of prime minister. If this is so then my simple question to Mr Burney then is this, how can you do more for human rights as a caretaker federal minister compared to being the prime minister and who are you trying to kid?
Ansar Burney’s betrayal is a bitter pill to swallow for all supporters of justice and human rights in Pakistan. One has to question his state of mind in making such a decision, for example how can he be neutral when martial law is imposed on the nation only to save the behind of one individual? It gets worse when you note that Ansar Burney took oath to head a so-called ‘Human Rights Ministry’ under martial law. Today he continues to head it while the Chief Justice of Pakistan and other judges remain under house arrest on his watch.
Ansar Burney is allegedly an ‘advocate’, someone who should have some regard for the rule of law. He should be a defender of the constitution yet he heads what can only be called an ‘Inhuman Rights Ministry’ that sits idly by whilst the superior judiciary and leading lawyers like Justice Tariq Mehmood, Ali Ahmed Kurd and Aitzaz Ahsan remain under illegal house arrest. Even as a minister he is a walking talking contradiction, take for example his recent announcement that trial courts would be established in jails to provide instant justice for cases of a petty nature at a time when the supreme guarantor of justice the Chief Justice remains under house arrest. These are truly breathtaking double standards.
I conclude with an appeal that as a human rights worker Ansar Burney should now shut up shop for he has lost all his credibility. I always knew that the dark night carries many a secret, so Burney’s seduction must be its newest whisper and its worst crime. For this Burney must pay endlessly, even a bath in holy water may not save his soul for moral damnation. That said the fan and optimist in me feels that all is not lost and I hope that this post will help to reawaken the seemingly departed soul of Ansar Burney from its comatose state.
It is for this very reason that I have chose to email this post to the Ansar Burney Trust in the hope that it reaches Mr Burney at the Inhuman Rights Ministry he heads. It is hoped Burney sahab will respond and more importantly undertake some much needed soul-searching that may reawaken his conscience. I can only pray for the return of his departed soul.
- Originally posted on 14th February 2008, 15:34 PK Time, written under MARTIAL LAW