“He is the chief justice! He is the top judge of the country! Why you are manhandling him! Don’t humiliate him!” Sajjad Ali Qureshi vividly recalls Mrs Chaudhry’s desperate appeals to the authorities as Chaudhry was unceremoniously relieved from his duties by then dictator Pervez Musharraf. Qureshi, an Islamabad-based photographer, made it just in time to witness the scenes outside Judge’s Colony on that fateful day by pretending to be a labourer.
Despite police officials’ resistance, the photographer’s camera captured the moment when police officials grabbed the chief justice by the hair and tried to muscle him into the car – similar to how the police treats criminals in American cop shows. Senior Islamabad Police officials, also present in the photograph, don’t seem to be doing much about it.
The photo, which appeared in the Nation the next day, was a gamechanger for the lawyer’s movement.
It caused uproar, and acting chief justice Javed Iqbal took immediate suo motu notice summoning top police officials. Peshawar High Court’s Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan (now a sitting judge on the Supreme Court) led the tribunal that conducted the investigations. The momentum picked up, and Chaudhry was restored to his position as Chief Justice - as Musharraf was forced to resign.
“When I appeared before tribunal, Justice Ejaz said to me, ‘Don’t worry. Tell us what you saw’,” Qureshi said. “I was scared and the judge offered me a glass of water. The tribunal’s head asked me to relax.”
He said that a police officer who was present at the scene of the picture later complained to Qureshi, blaming him for troubles with his family, as the family saw the policeman present in the picture oblivious to the Chief Justice.
The night before, on March 12, the police removed all the vehicles outside Chaudhry’s home and the national flag from the top of Justice Chaudhry’s house. On March 13, the chief justice had to walk to the Supreme Court building, and his refusal to sit in the police van led to his manhandling.
Qureshi seems to be as adept as Chaudhry on outplaying the authorities.
“After word of a photographer at the scene got around, police and officials of intelligence agencies tried to snatch my camera from me but I managed to escape from the scene.”
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Published in The Express Tribune, December 11th, 2013.
COMMENTS (17)
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Yes , Indeed , it was a very powerfull picture und as it appeared in the newspaper , it changed the whole sentiment and lawyers movement got a total different start. Welldone Mr. Sajjad Qureshi for doing your work under that circumstances, and salute to you.You surely did a wonderfull job.
and thanks to Tribune for showing this face of media , that how committed the media people are for conveying the actual stories to the people of Pakistan.welldone and keep it up.
Thank you Chief Justice. you are my hero. I have participated in your convoys as they passed the Lahore's Mall road and i am very happy with your tenure. you gave Pakistani's hope, saved Pakistan Steel mills, stood against the agencies, made politician fear for their acts.
Well this picture did make his son a billionaire, just sayin'
@nasrullah:
" If I get power I will give sitara e jurrat to that police officer."
Lets face reality, you will never be in a position to grant him any award. But since you like and praise his actions and I am sure the police officer loves rouging up people too. Why don't you volunteer yourself or ideally a 60 year old member of your family for this brave officer to rough up. This would be a realistic and practical award to the officer.
We are sad people. We make those government officers hero whose kids can't pass exams but end up becoming medical doctors, prime bureaucratic positions and exploit the richest people of the country because their dad can teach them a lesson.
There is a reason what place we are as a nation in this world.
V r a strange nation; v dont deserve a CJ like him. Probably v wanted judges who never dared to oppose govt etc. i salute CJ for he has done; otherwise our govt would have sold steel mill etc
I believe all people posting negative comments have been directly/indirectly affected by the independent decisions of my lord. Pti kids blame him for not hanging Nawaz Sharif for becoming third time PM while PPP hate him for exposing corruption and musharraf supporters blame him for his downfall. Pml n acted patiently and wasted 7 months waiting for his retirement. Chief Justice was restored by the 'aam aadmi' of this country not the fb elite posting negativity about him all these years. I think the decisions he made for 'aam aadmi' are most criticised by his opponents e.g sugar prices, wheat price, fuel price etc.
Sadly, the laws of normality don't apply in this country. The way Musharraf came into power might have been unorthodox (to say the least), but he was by far the best thing to happen to this country's economy and conservatism (which has increased alarmingly during the 'democratic rule' since then for some reason) in decades - and more importantly, the progress made during his era managed to trickle down to the common man. Meanwhile our CJ is busy keeping his ego high under the guise of 'justice'.
@Muhammad Usama Aziz: Care to give any examples?
@nasrullah: Shame on u
@Amir: Yes! Never in the history the army general, government (who considered them above the law) were forced to take corrective measures. It was because of CJ that many wrongdoings of government were stopped. As how average citizen will be affected by all of this, let me remind you that if the affairs at the top of the government are not made according to the law, then people at the lower level will continue to abuse law. So, he did the right thing of correcting the people at the top. Once they are made to follow the law, people at the bottom will have to eventually follow it and in turn the AVERAGE citizen will be the most benefited.
So the CJ and judiciary found out how an average pakistani citizen who has no approach to higher ups or media are mishandled, abused, made to feel like a low life by law enforcement agencies, government burecracy in various department.
My only question that pertains to this picture is, so what, did CJ do anything to protect an average citizen, rather than having Police official paraded to explain why this has been done to ONE individual only?
Pathetic, really!!!!
Will appointing judges for life time be a good idea?
Salute to the police officer who did this. Thank you very much. If I get power I will give sitara e jurrat to that police officer. May god protect him and his family.
lol..if u want to look at a moment..watch AAP moment in delhi....
"The picture that sparked a movement " I think you will write something relevant to this in next episode!
Besides Mr.Arsalan and Co., did any one else benefit from this movement?