2025: a year of constitutional genocide

A mutilated democratic structure, an eviscerated judicial system, crippled fundamental rights — this is the post-27th amendment constitutional landscape of our beloved Islamic Republic of Pakistan!

Once regarded as the classical democratic and consensual charter, the 1973 Constitution has been mercilessly — indeed, shamelessly — subjected to constitutional mutilation at the hands of our ruling elite over the past 52 years, disfiguring the very spirit of constitutionalism in pursuit of their own survival and self-interest.

'Reforms' — progressively labelled, yet each amendment carved deeper wounds, transforming evolution into systematic dilapidation, and advancement into the gradual genocide of constitutional integrity.

Each successive regime has tightened its grip on the levers of power by calculated erosion of institutional structure created to hold it accountable.

Cherished democratic principles — sanctity of fundamental rights, independence of judiciary, supremacy of parliament, rule of law — once the proud emblems of our constitutional promise, now lie buried beneath the triumphant march of our self-proclaimed 'chosen representatives', who mistake tyranny for governance and silence for stability. Hence, this day, we stand amid the ruins what was once a democratic promise.

However, the latter half of the preceding year witnessed what may rightly be described as the most brutal constitutional crime committed under the deceptive agenda of 'Twenty-Seventh Amendment', amounting to nothing less than the cold-blooded assassination of the apex judicial institution. What was once a source of pride for every lawyer — the Supreme Court of Pakistan — now stands reduced to a mere "Supreme Court" (final appellate forum), stripped of its institutional majesty; moreover, the dignified title and the office of the Chief Justice of Pakistan has likewise been hung on a disgraceful see-saw.

The emerging constitutional dictatorship is evident from the fact that hand-picked, executive-appointed judges are now projected as the new protectors of valuable fundamental rights and conveniently celebrated as dynamically skilled interpreters of the sacred scripture, popularly known as the 'Constitution of Pakistan'!

The revised process for the selection and transfer of judges has 'marvelously' cemented executive dominance over judicial pillar, hence, achieving the 'remarkable feat' of completely demolishing the democratically entrenched principle of judicial independence and craftily reshaping the judiciary from its role as the esteemed guardian of the Constitution into a 'splendidly' maneuvered appendage of the executive branch.

Thus, the foundational pillars of the rule of law and the people's supremacy, upon which the entire constitutional structure rests, have creatively been fractured, in order to axe the very surveillance gadget of accountability and to roll out a red carpet for those who hold the reins.

Being an integral part of judicial system, witnessing the defacement of Pakistan's long-cherished, most democratic legal framework — a product of historic national consensus — feels like a meticulously staged tragedy, a cruel joke played on the nation, engineered with precision by its very own self-styled guardians.

Thus, Constitution, once a sacred covenant, between the state and citizens, has gradually been reduced to an instrument of convenience, reframed and reinterpreted to guard the powerful and to silence the governed.

We must face the sobering truth: unless this nation rouses itself to confront the creeping decay of its own Constitution, the dream of Pakistan — envisioned as a democratic, just and lawful state — may soon linger on as ink in forgotten pages of history, or as a faint echo in the fading memories of a few wandering democrats like you and me.

As the nation turns a fresh calendar, it must recognise that this brutal deployment of the weapon of 'amendment' artfully disguised as 'reform', must be halted if we are to stop the ongoing genocide of constitutional principles and democratic values.