Daily Times

Disqualification season seems to be back. PML-N stalwart Senator Nehal Hashmi has been disqualified for five years by the Supreme Court. Along with this, he has been sentenced to imprisonment for a month and will have to pay a Rs 50,000 fine. The Senator had made an atrocious speech against the higher judiciary and the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the Panama papers case. The content of his speech is better not repeated, but the apex court took notice of it. Hashmi sought the court’s pardon during the hearing, but his apology was dismissed by the court.

Many analysts also believe that judicial activism is the result of disqualification. However, judicial activism is not harmful if the judiciary only operates under constitutional parameters. But in the past few days, we’ve witnessed judiciary intervening in the administration hegemony which obviously builds up an atmosphere of confrontation between the institutions.

In approximately 20 years, for the first time, a sitting parliamentarian has been imprisoned by the court. Now it’s not an usual practice. The timing of the Nehal Hashmi case is very significant. It is believed to be a warning for Nawaz Sharif and his daughter to tone down their remarks against the judges.

Senator Nehal Hashmi has been disqualified on fair grounds, as he had become an obstruction to justice. Secondly, space to criticise judgment is always available but threats to the honorable judges cannot be defended at any point. But it should be noted that in 2007 military dictator General Musharaf imposed emergency and arrested judges and other members of the civil society. What consequences were there for these actions?

If you review the entire history of this country, you will only find politicians convicted. It is now 70 years since Pakistan came into existence, but we have only had 34 years under democracy. The rest of our years were under military regimes. India however, has never been ruled by a military regime.

For the first time in the history of Pakistan a civilian government filed a treason case against a military dictator in 2013. But in 2016, the courts directed the Interior Ministry to strike off Musharraf’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL). On the other hand, Hashmi was convicted despite having apologised for his actions. Ironically, threatening remarks are a more serious violation than a gross abrogation of the constitution for the honourable judges.

Politicians have also made the mistake of aligning with non civilian forces and the judiciary to oust or weaken rivals. This practice was observed often in the 1990s by both the PMLN and PPP. Both parties are guilty of not letting the civilian setup strengthen. Now the PTI is playing the same role

In a recent interview, Musharraf admitted that in 2016, and then Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif facilitated him to flee abroad. It is also a part of the record now that, ‘2014 dharna against rigging’ was to mount pressure on government to let Musharraf go abroad. One can simply conclude, selective institutions in the land of jurisprudence are above the law.

In Pakistan, the constitution has been violated and suspended multiple times but none of this country’s military dictators have ever been tried fairly in the courts. In fact, courts have facilitated the military regimes, from Justice Molvi Mushtaq, who was responsible for the judicial murder of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to Abdul Hameed Dogar, who took oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO).

Then I must say Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif contemporary campaign ‘Muje kyun nikala’ is justifiable. Selective justice for a selective institute will never get us anywhere. If the accountability process is applicable to an elected Prime Minister then it must be ensured for all state institutions.

A society fosters progress when civilian supremacy is ensured. Unfortunately, our democracy is compromised by a number of loopholes. For this reason, no Prime Minister in Pakistan has ever completed a full term.

Other than parliamentarians, you will see rest of institutes backing their rogue elements for being associated with them which ultimately give them the space to escape. This is the reason the law never takes its course. But the institutes must realise that selective accountability doesn’t lead to justice. Across the board accountability must be ensured.

Politicians have also made the mistake of aligning with non civilian forces and the judiciary to oust or weaken rivals. This practice was observed often in the 1990s by both the PMLN and PPP. Both parties are guilty of not letting the civilian setup strengthen. Now the PTI is playing the same role. Political parties must revise their attitude towards the democratic setup.

The writer is an academic. He tweets @muhd_hani

Published in Daily Times, February 4^th 2018.