Hail the Supreme Court Part 1
Today’s post is the first of a series of posts that will be published over many weeks. The posts will chart the journey of the lawyers movement from 9 March 2007 and its milestones until the historic judgement of the Supreme Court of Pakistan as delivered on 31 July 2009.
This post has been a long time coming. On March 24 2009, I wrote a post titled 507 days of martial law end on the day the Chief Justice of Pakistan was restored as he sat again in court room number one. 129 days later on July 31 2009, the Chief Justice and his brother judges have reversed the illegal acts of November 3rd in full and put down the Dog sorry Dog(gar) and said good riddance to martial law.
Adding up the days we arrive at the conclusion that after 636 long and painful days, Pakistan has returned to its natural state of constitutionalism and the rule of law. And what a journey of sacrifice, thanks above all go to the Lord of all Lords ALLAH, for divine intervention has played a key part in reminding all Pakistanis that this nation was created for a divine purpose and to serve as the second Madina.
The Chief as I fondly call him, Chief Justice Ifthikhar Muhammed Chaudhry has remained steadfast and principled throughout the struggle along with his brother judges and they deserve the highest praise. In fact no words are good enough and I cannot do better other than to praise them all as true sons of the Quaid.
The ordinary lawyer is equally deserving of such praise and are sons of the Quaid too as they were and are the true change agents of Pakistan. From Swat to Sukkur the ordinary black coated lawyer sacrificied their livelihoods and for many their lives too in what history will record for the most noble of causes -the rule of law.
The lawyers movement and its leadership too are deserving of equal praise and are true sons of the Quaid. I begin by lauding lesser known household names such as Sardar Asmatullah, Mehmood-ul Hasan, Justice Rasheed A Rizvi, Naeem Qureshi, Manzoor Qadir, Anwar Kamal, Baz Muhammed Kakar, Lala Latif Afridi to name only a few of the principled office holders of the Bar Associations across Pakistan. The stellar leadership of the super six of Athar Minallah, Muneer A Malik, Ali Ahmed Kurd, Justice Tariq Mehmood, Hamid Khan and Aitzaz Ahsan need no introduction and again no words of praise are enough and yes at the risk of boredom they too are true sons of the Quaid.
Last but not least I wish to praise departed friends whose sacrifices have led us to see this momentous day. I begin with the great Ahmed Faraz saab who was a leading light in this movement and a hero of Pakistan for all time. I believe Faraz saab is with us all today in our victory and that he will be smiling today, content and happy in Paradise to see that justice has won the day in his Pakistan.
Imdad Ali Awan is another hero of Pakistan who was the President of the Sukkur Bar Association that first invited the Chief Justice to address it. The captain of the lawyers movement, Muneer A Malik said that ‘ barash ka pehla katra Sukkur mein gira’ translated as Sukkur was responsible for the first raindrop of rain that became a torrent that swept aside Musharraf and his goons. Thus Imdad Ali Awan and his Sukkur Bar Association wrote the first chapter of this victory and we celebtrate and salute him today.
Civil society, the passionate and proud Pakistani awaam are too deserving of praise as are students and bloggers including the Emergency List of Samad Khurram and my friends Awab Alvi, Kruman and others who stood tall and raised their voice for the rule of law.
At a personal level I am proud of the role Other Pakistan played throughout the struggle and hope that this is a new Pakistan that is taking shape right here and right now.
Let us pray that it will be a Pakistan of constitutionalism and the rule of law, one of hope and of equal rights for all its citizens and is exactly that Pakistan envisioned by the Quaid-e-Azam as that is our aim and thus our struggle continues to create an ‘other’ Pakistan, the Quaid’s Pakistan.
