I think the writer is incorrect in saying that laws passed by parliament cannot be challenged in a democracy.
TOPEKA, KS, US: This is with reference to Saroop Ijaz’s article of August 2 titled “Turf wars”. I am not a lawyer but I live in a democratic country. I thought that when the Supreme Court was attacked by PML-N activists during the 1990s, the army was supposed to have been called to defend the court but did not respond. Similarly, in the US, in the days of racial segregation, a governor of the US state of Alabama, George Wallace, tried to block the US Supreme Court-mandated integration of black students in America’s educational system, and to ensure that the court’s orders were carried out, the US paramilitary was called.
I think the writer is incorrect in saying that laws passed by parliament cannot be challenged in a democracy by any institution. Rather, democratic norms demand that the judiciary act as a check and balance on the other organs of the state such as the legislature and executive. I hope that the writer is not suggesting that we overlook the shenanigans of a corrupt government simply because it is elected.
Naeem Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, August 3rd, 2011.
