There are three sorts of lawyers - able, unable and lamentable. William
Goldsmith was right in saying: "Lawyers are always more ready to get
a man into troubles than out of them. These days their leaders are
trying to screw the whole nation.
Arif

"<shah1936@yahoo.com>

Rule of Law in Pakistan

By Shah N. Khan

 

The strongest proponents of the rule of law among our politicians are the ones who break the laws of Allah's with impunity and indulge in lies, distortion, hypocrisy and corruption. Some of them are adulterers while some ex-rulers had amassed ill-gotten wealth abroad besides setting bad examples of nepotism, favoritism and using fascist tactics including extra-judicial killings in fake encounters with the activists of opposing political parties and getting innocent people framed on fictitious criminal charges.

 

Violation Of Law By The Public

Among few examples, City Government of Karachi appears to be helpless in implementing the law for taxicabs to use meters as that would trigger ethnic riots as the demagogues would term it discrimination against ethnic minority. Bus owners violate rules of conforming to the routes and use shortcuts to get double and triple fare. In other big cities the law for such transport services cannot be implemented as most of the owners of vehicles happen to be relatives of law enforcement personnel. Food adulteration and profiteering are so rampant.

 

Judicial Activism for Political Aims

Transparency International's report last year had indicated wide spread corruption in courts and police. And recently some of the judges have set bad example of politicking and the lawyers have been agitating to achieve political aims of those who had stormed the Supreme Court in their tenure. The judges who had refused to take oath under PCO in 2002 are ignored because they do not appear to be part of the conspiracy.

 

Justice Delayed is Justice Denied

The movement of lawyers leaders to boycott of court proceedings in spite of many thousand of cases lingering on in courts for many years is serious breach of professional ethics and total disregard to the interest of common men in litigation as justice delayed is justice denied. .

 

Street Crimes and Bribery   

Street crimes are on the increase as population explosion is creating economic problems of un-employment, shortages of food and power, water and other things. People still have to pay bribe to register FIR for criminal offenses, or to get jobs in lower ranks as teacher or policeman. Even for posting, transfer, granting leave and promotion in some services bribe is taken. Retired Government servants rarely get their pension released without paying bribe. 

 

Exploitation of consumers

Big and small greedy businessmen and industrialists indulge in unethical and often illegal activities to fleece the consumers. Workers in many big organization rarely put in honest day's productivity to force overtime. Quite a few Union leaders in public sector organizations share the loot with the top management, Power thefts are rampant. Thefts of irrigation water are also going on.

 

Journalists and Law

Never before in history of Pakistan freedom of speech was allowed to the extent as seen after 2001.But more than Allah, our journalists fear standing alone against the whim of his owners or the prejudices of their audience. Like American or British media owners some of the Pakistani media owner want to become media czar having enormous power, controlling more members of parliament than any of the political parties.. Editors and reporters are pressurized to use their media vehicles to investigate and denigrate their business and political opponents. The media owners are said to be offering incentives to get advertising revenues from the Government and big companies. They also perform the functions of lobbying for politicians for fat fees and favors and destroying the reputation of the opponents of their clients. 

 

Leaders Must Set Example Of Conformity To Discipline

While it is correct that the leaders have to set the example of honesty and conforming to laws and discipline, but unfortunately on account of misrule, dishonesty and selfishness and power hunger of our politicians has been paving way for coup d'etat and failure of democracy. The conduct of parliamentarians has often been riotous  and Un-Islamic.

 

Good Initiative by Asif Zardari

By virtue of reforms made by President Musharraf and devolution of power at district government level and his policy of political reconciliation, the political maturity of our people is growing and PPP leaders have taken a good initiative in seeking cooperation of other parties in forming a government by national consensus in a hung parliament. PPP should also change their policy toward PML (Q) in the spirit of national reconciliation. The doubts that some of their leaders plotted the assassination of Benazir Bhutto appear to have been created cunningly by the archenemies of Bhutto family, who may be shedding crocodile's tears over this great national loss.  

 

Limit Of Two Terms For Key Posts Must Continue

The experience of United States shows that the maximum limit of two terms for holding key post in the Government has many advantages and we should not change it. The serious problems of terrorism and corruption need effective measures and cooperation of all political parties sincere to Pakistan and they must work in the spirit of national reconciliation for the next five years. 

 

Test of Leadership

As Walter Lippmann had written: "The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him

in other men the conviction and the will to carry on. … The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of genius, can deal with successfully." Pervez Musharraf had done that and it would be good fortune of the country if continues for the full term of five years.

 

The man made laws cannot be perfect and being imperfect and more or less external ways of defending what is better in life against what is worse they alone cannot solve the problem. By itself, the law can never create anything better. Establishing respect for the law does not automatically ensure a better life for that, after all, is a job for people and not for laws and institutions.

 

Greatest Veneration To The Rule Of Law Is To Keep A Watch On It

In a democracy—even if it is a so-called democracy like the one we have had—the

greatest veneration one can show to the rule of law is to abide by the laws of Allah for personal conduct and also keep a watch on the manmade laws, and to  reserve the right to judge unjust laws passed by previous parliaments and the subversion of the function of the  law by the power of any organ of the state, whether it is Judiciary or the government That vigilance is the most important proof of respect for the law. Important thing is the spirit of Pakistan Ideology - not the minor technicalities of law and constitution that become outdated and fail to protect ideology of the nation.

 

Shah N. Khan

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