Page 46 - 15DEC2019E-5

Pakistani court exposes dirty

game of pro-Army elements

The maligning of the apex court, according to The history appears to have repeated in 2019, when the
the country’s CJI, had begun the moment the mentor of the present prime minister Imran Khan and his
army sponsored political outfit, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
court stayed the three-year extension of the It means, the party stands for "Pakistan Movement for Justice".
incumbent Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa General Bajwa had the intelligence department the Inter-ser-
vices intelligence (ISI) had indulged in massive poll rigging the
and started hearing on the issue of his extension, 2018 elections. Imran Khan in a hurry to repay Bajwa’s support
reports gopal misra issued a notification signed by him extending his tenure to next
three years from the day, the general would superannuate i.e.
n Angry Chief Justice of Pakistan, Asif Saeed Khosa, November 29, 2019.
observed in an open court proceeding that he and It is often said that history repeats, in Pakistan, the judici-
the other members of the bench — Justices Mazhar ary has again challenged the illogical methods of the power
Alam Khan Miankhel and Syed Mansoor Ali Shah game the military establishment plays in the name of Islam.
A — were accused of being the CIA agents and work- Choudhary had upset the decade-old impression that the judi-
ing on an Indian agenda to weaken Pakistan. In a clear message ciary is a pet institution of the army and its generals, but Khosa
to the Army and ISI, the unquestioned self-serving power mafia and his colleagues have ushered in an era of fair play in the
of the Islamic State of Pakistan, that this unprecedented propa- administration.
ganda unleashed against the judges, would not deter them to With the judicial scrutiny of Bajwa’s extension issue, many
rein in even the army and its secret services under a frame- predicted that it may kick off civil-military conflict, but the
work of law. Justice Khosa also stated that the maligning of the apex court has taken a very broad-spectrum view on the issue
apex court had begun on November 26, 2019, the moment the fo the appointment of the army chief in the country, which has
court stayed the three- already been under the
year extension of the military dictatorship of the
present incumbent Army most of the years since its
Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa inception in 1947. Also the
and began hearing on the civilian rules too could not
issue of his extension. survive without the bless-
The Pakistani judici- ing of the army headquar-
ary has always shown ters known as the GHQ.
courage to challenge the The court verdict on
dictatorship of the armed Thursday, November 28,
forces under the garb of 2019, is a major blow to
an Islamic state. The army Prime Minister Imran
dictator, General Mushar- Khan personally, and the
raf, who had sacked the Pakistani army known
civilian prime minister, for its assertive role in the
Nawaz Sharif, and had country. It is also a case of
grabbed power, had faced acute embarrassment to
countrywide protest in Bajwa, who had ensured
2007 demanding the re- the victory of Imran Khan
instatement of Supreme and his party. Khan has be-
Court Chief Justice Iftikhar come a personal liability.
Chaudhry. Choudhary was There are also reports that
sacked by the dictator, but before the court’s verdict
had refused to resign de- Khan has already been
spite army commandos told to put in papers. With
sent by Musharraf. Nawaz Sharif allowed to