LAHORE: The remarks by the honourable judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, while hearing the case of eleven prisoners picked up by intelligence agencies from outside Adiala jail in 2010, that patriotism was not the monopoly of the security establishment and that its members were not superior to any other citizens, are telling. Members of the Supreme Court bench hearing the case, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, further noted that while the sacrifices of the personnel of intelligence agencies were not being denied, members of all state institutions were under oath to strictly adhere to the Constitution.
This observation on patriotism reflects on the general mindset in the ranks of the military security establishment and this mindset is what allows personnel of the intelligence agencies to think that the law does not apply to them. While one must appreciate the words spoken by the honourable justices, one also hopes that they will be followed by actions. One such action would be to summon the head of the agencies and ask them why they have violated their oaths taken under the Constitution.
For the benefit of your readers, this oath is reproduced here: “I do solemnly swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to Pakistan and uphold the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which embodies the will of the people that I will not engage myself in any political activities whatsoever and that I will honestly and faithfully serve Pakistan in the Pakistan Army (or navy or air force) as required by and under the law”. This really leaves no room for ambiguity and this also means that any officer cannot take the defence that he or she was following the orders of his superiors.
If the Supreme Court can end this action of the security agencies, it will have done great service to the people of Pakistan. At a larger level, one has to ask that why do members of the military and security establishment think that they are the only ones who are patriotic. The role of the intelligence agencies is not to judge the patriotism, or lack thereof, of citizens.
ST Hussain
Published in The Express Tribune, March 12th, 2012.
