At last, the Court Martial proceedings in NLC case are about to commence against three retired General officers who have been reinstated for the purpose. Though all agree that the case be brought to its logical conclusion, the development has received mixed response about the adopted course. Some critics continue to cause aspersions on the way the case is being handled, have apprehensions about the outcome and are demanding that the case be investigated by concerned civil agencies. The majority of people, however, have appreciated the step and consider it a good omen for the country’s future. To these people, it’s a new beginning – no more holy cows.
I tend to be with the latter group as the country
can no more afford to nurture holy cows, may they be from any premier
institution. Same is necessitated because in the last few years, military
establishment’s status as a centre of gravity has diluted and the Judiciary,
media and the political elite have also emerged as major power centres, are individually
vying to take the centre-stage and, as such, any preferential treatment to a
single one would up-set the entire equilibrium, disturbing the delicate balance.
To elaborate my viewpoint, I have briefly discussed each in the succeeding
paragraphs.
In Pakistan’s peculiar environment, the military
establishment still remains a major entity and people place a lot of hope in
this institution. It must continue to perform, deliver and hold ruthless
accountability for failings, both professional and moral. Only then its
leadership would be able to meet the expectations of the masses and wield
influence, directly or indirectly, on those bent upon undermining the country’s
institutions. Same is also imperative to counter the ongoing unprecedented
propaganda unleashed against the military establishment by parties with vested
interests, using a segment of anchor-persons / journalists. In nutshell, military
must stand tall on moral and professional grounds. Commencement of Court Martial
proceedings in NLC case would surely enhance its image, though a lot would depend
on the out-come.
As we flash back the unprecedented movement for
restoration of the CJ, speeches of the eminent lawyers, promises and the
generated hope, one thought that all our worries would be over with the onset
of ‘independent judiciary’. Unfortunately, this was not to be. In spite of the
fact that the Judiciary, under the leadership of the incumbent CJ, gave some
land-mark decisions, the people continue to suffer due to lack of governance,
and justice. As a result, disillusionment is slowly setting in, a manifestation
of which can be seen in the recent comments by Asma Jehangir, Kurd, Aitzaz
Ahsen, etc, the stalwarts of independent judiciary movement. In my view,
greatest damage has been done by the way Arsalan Iftikhar’s case, perceived to
be a holy cow, has been handled by the judiciary and, connected with it,
unchecked media campaign by PPP jialas. If judiciary is to regain its
ascendency, an imperative for the country to survive, justice must be seen as
done in Arsalan Iftikhar’s case.
Media,
in the last few years, has emerged as a major power centre to reckon with and has
many laurels to its credit. However, as compared to the other power centres
which are institutionalized, the media remains rudder-less and consequently, a
few anchor-persons have become holy cows who feel that they are beyond the
institutions, the government and even the state. They have gained mastery over twisting
facts in pursuance of self-conceived or externally motivated agendas for certain
personal gains. Just to quote a few examples of a self-righteous anchor-person;
he urged General Musharraf to take action on Lal Masjid in front of other colleagues
and once the operation was undertaken, became its greatest critic. On memo-gate,
he openly sided with Haqqani and condemned Mansoor Ijaz, for reasons known to
many, but after the findings of the judicial commission, never bothered to
admit that he was wrong. He is the main exponent of Army / ISI bashing campaign,
commencement of which unfortunately coincided with the US-Pakistan Army
stand-off in the aftermath of 2nd May 2011 and Salala incidents. Any
keen observer would note discrepancies in his arguments but he still thrives,
has become the holiest of all cows, and untouchable. Probably, President
Zardari, the grand master, is the only one who knows the art to tame such
anchor-persons. For others who choose to pursue principled journalism,
self-accountability, where required, is the best course to adopt. A strict code
of conduct would surely be in order to prevent misuse of this powerful
instrument.
And
finally the political leadership, whose lack of commitment to ‘accountability’
can be gauged from their inability to achieve consensus on the new accountability
bill. Resultantly, in spite of vibrant media and pro-active judiciary,
corruption in the government machinery is rampant, destroying the national
economy like a termite. With investigation agencies under their fold, the top
political elite have become holy cows who cannot be touched.
To
sum up, things cannot continue the way they are. If this trend is to be reversed,
the majority of masses must stop considering corruption as a ‘non-issue’ and
holy cows must remain no more in political elite, judiciary, military
establishment and the media – all must be treated equally as per law of the
land.
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