The
symmetrical nature created by all mighty Allah follows the law of nature, and
there is no room for violation within Allah Tala’s system. There is no doubt in
saying that it is regulated by nature without any past and thus we see no
discrepancy in any form.
Man-made
laws were developed and nurtured when the first of creation settled in the form
of colonies and societies and were made to regulate these societies to
eliminate injustice. When there were no written laws, individuals and clans
used to take revenge from those who used to offend them or their way of living
by any means. But later when mankind progressed, the laws on criminality and
injustice prevailed, paving new ways for civil societies.
With
the passage of time, people realized the grave importance of law and justice.
Similarly,
many developed countries today are successful and prosperous not just because
of their well written laws but also because of the impartial implementation of
those laws. The rich of these countries are subjected to the same laws as the
poor. And there is no special treatment for those in power. In these societies
it’s not just the severity of law that matters but also the certainty of the
law which is implemented and that too without any discrimination and prejudice.
Our
beloved country Pakistan came into being in 1947 and we adopted 1956’s
constitution. The constitution of 1956 provided a federal system with powers
resting with the parliament. Unfortunately even before the first parliamentary
elections, Iskandar Mirza abrogated the devised constitution and imposed
martial law as he did not approve of the law. This was the first time that a
powerful leader had betrayed his country to impose controlled democracy. The
lust of power overpowered his consciousness.
After
an unfortunate series of events that Pakistan had to go through, ultimately a
time came where the previous laws could not implement the rule of law in a
country shaken by war; hence the then PM Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto decided to bring
in 1973 constitution. The constitution which is still followed in most of its
entirety was not only a comprehensive document, but also provided protection
to, each province, sect, and religion and to everybody living in Pakistan. It
was the constitution which was agreed upon by all political parties. However
the fate of 1973 constitution was similar to that of the previous one; it started
getting defaced with every new dictator and hence “the rule of law” became “the
law to rule the people of Pakistan by tailoring the constitution to create
fear.
The
nation witnessed open lashes to political workers, who were lashed to create
fear to suppress freedom of speech. The embedded fear in the hearts of people
created an atmosphere of terror against the state; and any voice that dared to
challenge the terrorizing laws and their horrifying implementation, was shut
down immediately. The dictators became the law, and the law became the wishes
of the dictators; hence the rule of law quickly became the rule of the
dictator.
The
law was torn into shreds when the custodian of justice in the country, the
Supreme Court itself, became party to the malicious intentions of dictators
time and again. Ultimately this course of action led to the judicial murder of
Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, which the entire world witnessed. It was
heartbreaking to see General Zia Ul Haq being congratulated by no less than
Justice Inwar Ul Haq in the Army House on the day Bhutto was sentenced to
death.
I
was a junior officer present in that function and when I witnessed the
withering away of the rule of law at the hands of the dictator celebrating the
death of the leader of the public; it was than when I had fully understood the
reason behind Bhutto’s conviction.
The
decision allowing Bhutto’s death sentence to be carried out made the people of
Pakistan lose their faith in the rule of law. The time continued, laws and
rules kept being made and broken over and over again. The nation instead of
stepping forward in the world of modern legal and court reforms, kept on
getting sunk into the dark hole of victimization and injustice.
The
irony of Pakistan as a nation is that we want “law” to hold others accountable
but want ourselves to be exempted for similar offenses; then we have all sorts
of explanations to justify our actions. What we need to understand is that
lawlessness creates unruly nations, as laws are made to discipline people and
protect their rights and ensures high quality of life.
The
so called “elite class” is also responsible, as they deem themselves above and
beyond any law. The role of the politicians in protecting such elements should
also be condemned. They are saved by the politicians to protect their own voter
hubs; who get their votes but for a very high price – the abrogation of
justice. As a consequence these individuals become bigger and stronger than the
law itself. Unfortunately the law enforcing institutions like police knows them
but the claws of these elements have become so big that even the Police is
unable to touch them because everyone has a protector.
Furthermore,
in recent years there have been many events where Fake FIRs have been
registered against innocents whereas the actual criminals have the audacity to
roam around in the streets freely. Recently almost 60,000 cases of “crimes
against person” had been reported and out of which more than 1100 FIRs were
revoked after detailed investigations. Fortunately the new criminal amendment
bill 2017 suggests up to a life time imprisonment upon severity of the
fabricated information being given to law enforcement agencies which used to be
either 6 months or fine of Rs.3000 only.
If
we see the number of complaints and disposal of cases in every province; the
figures display a rather pathetic situation. Among the 1,954,868 court cases
countrywide, 1,274,310 are pending with Punjab’s district judiciary, 121,180
with Sindh, 188,561 with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 13,882 with Baluchistan’s district
courts and 31,018 cases remain unresolved with the district judiciary of
Islamabad to date.
I
strongly feel that rule of law cannot be implemented unless free and fair
accountability is carried out and good governance cannot be brought back until
accountability is used as yard stick equally applicable on judiciary,
politicians and on every other institution and individual residing in Pakistan.
I hope sense prevails and the parliament rises above its political gains. I
would like to think that parliament of Pakistan will one day solely and wholly
think about interest of our beloved country and about the future generations;
where they are taught to be honest and hardworking, and where there is no
injustice based on class and discrimination. We need rule of law in the country
for better governance and not law as a tool for the elite class to rule public
for their own ends.
The article has been published in “THE
NATION” on August 31, 2017
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