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Judgment Days
Published on August 15th, 2009

The reckless behavior of the lawyers in Lahore is symptomatic of the pent-up frustrations of their community while suffering at the hands of the police. Unfortunately this behavior is patently illegal, and is exactly amongst the basic 'not to do' in a civilized society. After the remarkable achievement of the lawyers fraternity in the restoration of the chief justice, and the manner of this achievement was nothing short of a revolution for the Pakistani people. An awakening of people power. This has brought a new powerful weapon into the ambit of the lawyer community. It was something that was solely in the use of the political parties, and the successful use of this street power dictated the election results throughout the country. On this occasion this power was used to bring the establishment and the government into obeying the demand of the people - the Restoration. This was a magnificent achievement made more honorable when the government was forced to issue the order in the early hours of the morning. Never in Pakistan has a government acquiesced in such a humiliating manner. And that too a Peoples Party government, with a majority in both houses. It appeared obvious to everyone that the government was not acting according to the wishes of the people. Luckily better sense prevailed and a phone call with assurances did the trick. The long march was halted, and the restoration was achieved.

However no lesson has been learned, and the National Assembly which is our fount of power, is not doing its job, and the country with the biggest Cabinet in its history is carrying on in its petty ways without a care for the suffering of the people in the Northern areas, nor of the load shedding in the cities. The government efforts of bringing rental power plants is rife with rumors of huge scams in the procurement of the plants, and their rents. Also the rumours that the shortage itself was artificially created to up the ante as it were. These rumors are very damaging, unfortunately the gentlemen in charge do not have the communication skills to convince the listeners, that the government is indeed trying. The government seems incapable of dealing effectively with these issues. The people are facing a sugar crisis, with a threatened shortage. With very little time left before Ramazan we can see a hurried import at a huge price, that will cost the poor people (us) more of a burden.

The media is doing an excellent job in exposing the scams as and when they surface. An investigative journalist of repute was recently vilified on the floor of the National Assembly, for exposures of corruption in various departments of alarming proportions. It seems a suit is being filed for damages, and it will be interesting to see how far the case is pressed and how the current managers will explain their present and their past. It would seem, that but for the NRO, there are very few of the returnees who are completely blameless.

In the meantime we hear that PIA is launching a huge (2 billion $?) acquisition programme for new aircraft. Yet another scam in the offing. The last purchase of 777 ER Boeings, was made at the start of Musharraf's tenure. So that PIA passengers could fly non-stop from Karachi to New York. These state-of-the-art 777 are taking passengers from Karachi to Islamabad and back!

These and other deals in the offing will invite the scrutiny of investigative authorities if not already, for charges that will surely follow. Only this time we have a Supreme Court that is Snow White, and is unlikely to take kindly to corruption in any form, and will surely set an example of how the 'new' Supreme Court will establish a rule of law that is just and swift. The operators of the various scams in the making would do well to stick to the straight and narrow. For the 'chief' has a reputation that should strike terror in the heart of the lawbreakers. This reputation has been hard won, and the entire nation is watching his court, for their hopes and prayers are riding with him. He is their last hope to bring this country on the path of justice. We see Judgement Days ahead for Pakistan wherein our entire judicial system will be restored to its origins - as stated in the books.