Judges and grudges

In Pakistan justice is not about the law and constitution of the land but rather about the politics of the land

The new item on the wishlist of Maryam Nawaz is that before holding the elections in Pakistan, the country must reverse her father’s disqualification that had stemmed from the Panama Papers revelations. It was a foreign firm Mossack Fonseca and journalists from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists that had leaked secret information about the financial dealings of many powerful individuals around the world. That firm and those investigative journalists were not concerned with or stood to gain anything from the politics of Pakistan. Today, the PML-N one more time wants to get away with the consequences of their immoral and illegal actions. Today, they also want to ensure that Pakistan would continue to be a country where truth would have no value. Pakistan is like a blackhole of truth, where the truth enters never to be seen again.

Legal judgements are written by justices, which future lawyers will read and learn from. They’re supposed to be written in light of the supreme law of the land: the constitution. In Pakistan, however, what is learnt is that justice is not about the law and the constitution of the land but rather about the politics of the land. Sadly, judges have to be parties’ favourites, parties have to be establishment’s favourites, and establishment must be American favourite. It doesn’t get any stranger than that.

The judgments given must be reversed so as to allow the return of Nawaz Sharif from his luxurious self-imposed exile which, let’s not forget, he had requested for health reasons four years ago. Leaders usually put up a fight against the odds. Nawaz wants to remove the odds and ensure a situation where he wouldn’t have to fight. The daughter wants to create a situation where her father comes back without any fight. Yet, he’d claim to be fighting for the people of Pakistan. It’s the real land of opportunities where anything is possible. No wonder these elites want to come to Pakistan.

Pakistani citizens want to escape to some other land in order to avoid the economic hardships. Their passports don’t have the credibility to allow for such an escape. Nawaz wants a passport to the Prime Minister House without the political and legal hardships.

The current regime has no other ambition other than to sanitise their crimes and keep their stolen wealth without much spillover from legal and political poking. They want to turn the judiciary into a system where legal decisions would be applicable in the present only. Tomorrow is another day with another legal reality.

Someone wisely said that when a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus. We should expect nothing less from the crooks who are in charge of Pakistan’s politics right now.

Notice that none of this is about the governed. It’s all about those who govern. The media, the judiciary, the police, and the rest of the governmental and social machinery are there to serve the people; on paper. The story of Pakistan could be summed up in very few words: those who matter don’t mind and those who mind don’t matter.

The people have never mattered here. And sadly, they’re the ones paying the highest price for the ego and greed driven aggressive fight that have defined Pakistan’s politics for a generation. They know they don’t matter. And they don’t even mind it anymore.

Sure, judgements would be reversed and replaced by designer judgements. Journalists and social media activists would be hired to create fake noise and manufacture fake opinions. All in the service of one man and his cunning daughter. And all of this is possible because Pakistan is the true land of possibilities. Just not for those that Orwell called the Unpeople but rather the elite criminals of this country.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9^th, 2023.

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