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.

Injustice Dog(gar) of martial law fame left the Dog(gar) court yesterday standing diminished and degraded just like Musharraf before him. We can  never forget that these midgets of men collaborated as per a Devil’s pact to create an unconstitutional regime in all its evil ushering in once again the dark night of dictatorship and injustice in Pakistan

Today I have been reflecting on the rise and fall of such false gods. It goes without saying that the lawyers movement destroyed both men. The central issue throughout has been the rule of law and the constitution and with this in mind I cannot move on without making reference to Habib Jalib’s Dastoor.

Habib Jalib like Faiz and Faraz needs no introduction. He is alive today in all of us and his poem ‘Dastoor’ is as relevant today and has become the unofficial anthem of the long march. Indeed was this long march not Habib Jalib’s long march too.

‘Dastoor’ was originally written in 1962 against Ayub’s bogus constitution.  Today the words of the poem are as relevant as they were over forty years ago. Indeed I would go further any say that Jalib’s ‘dastoor’ is even more relevant today than even before against the false ‘dastoor’ of Dogar and Musharraf.  Hence I repeat the iconic words of Habib Jalib’s ‘Dastoor’  with English translation thanks to Sana Saleem’s blog Mystified Justice.

Deep jis ka sirf mehellaat hi main jalay,
Chand logon ki khushyon ko lay ker chalay,
Wo jo saye main har maslihat kay palay;
Aisay dastoor ko,
Subh e bay noor ko,
Main naheen maanta,
Main naheen jaanta.

The light which shines only in palaces
Burns up the joy of the people in the shadows
Derives its strength from others’ weakness
That kind of system,
like dawn without light
I refuse to acknowledge,
I refuse to accept

Main bhee kha’if naheen takhta e daar say,
Main bhee Mansoor hoon, keh do aghyaar say,
Kyun daraatay ho zindaan ki divar say,
Zulm ki baat ko,
Jehel ki raat ko,
Main naheen maanta,
Main naheen jaanta.

I am not afraid of execution,
Tell the world that I am the martyr
How can you frighten me with prison walls?
This overhanging doom,
this night of ignorance,
I refuse to acknowledge,
I refuse to accept

Phool shaakhon pay khilnay lagay tum kaho,
Jaam rindon ko milnay lagay tum kaho,
Chak seenon kay silnay lagay tum kaho,
Iss khulay jhoot ko,
Zehan ki loot ko,
Main naheen maanta,
Main naheen jaanta.

“Flowers are budding on branches”, that’s what you say,
“Every cup overflows”, that’s what you say,
“Wounds are healing themselves”, that’s what you say,
These bare-faces lies,
this insult to the intelligence,
I refuse to acknowledge,
I refuse to accept

Tum nay loota hai sadyon hamara sakoon,
Ab na hum per chalay ga tumhara fasoon,
Chara gar main tumhain kiss tara say kahoon?
Tum naheen charaagar,
Koi maanay magar,
Main naheen maanta,
Main naheen jaanta.

For centuries you have all stolen our peace of mind
But your power over us is coming to an end
Why do you pretend you can cure pain?
Even if some claim that you’ve healed them,
I refuse to acknowledge,
I refuse to accept.

You have read the words now see the video with Habib Jalib singing ‘Dastoor’ below:

I also add Mian Shahbaz Sharif’s brilliant singing of Dastoor too which proves he is talented in many a field!

And yes its still martial law until the Chief Justice is restored  and sitting in room number one of the Supreme Court  hence my end comment as below:

- WRITTEN UNDER MARTIAL LAW (My thanks to cowards Tariq Pervez. Sabihuddin, Sardar Raza & Co for selling out)

My views on the so-called ineligibilty of the Sharif brothers is  captured above, need I say more?

That said I will say at least this, that it is a wicked verdict coming from the canine Dog(gar) court. The judgement was authored by Mr 10% though it does bear the pawprint of the dog sorry Dog(gar) court (pun intended of course!)

I vociferously condemn the disgraceful decision by the Dog(gar) court and the Zardari government in proclaiming governer rule in the Punjab. Such a decision is Mr 10%’s equivalent of November 2 and like Musharraf he too will suffer ignomy for it.

Zardari’s decision will be the nail in the coffin of this vile regime, but his decision is a  national tragedy as he has trampled upon the hopes and aspirations of a nation starved of democracy.

Worse he has single-handedly destroyed a national treasure that was the Pakistan People’s Party, is this zombie of a party now extinct or will the spineloss sops including luminaries like Prime Minister Gillani and others stand  tall against the man of percentages and save this party?

- WRITTEN UNDER MARTIAL LAW (My thanks to cowards Tariq Pervez. Sabihuddin, Sardar Raza & Co for selling out)