Is the ‘fix’ in?

By

Khawaja Daud Mazhar,

The Nation

Having endured all the barbs of the last two months or more, the PML-N ‘darbaris’ are again out in full swing daily, claiming how their erstwhile, thoroughly corrupt and in any other countries court of law who would have been declared a notorious and habitually corrupt person, is going to get a ‘clean chit’ from our highest court.

While it is almost mind boggling how they could lay claim to such a grossly asinine decision even before it has been announced, it would not be far from reality as they, the government of the day, has all the tools in their toolbox to snoop into the highest courts computers to find out what kind of decision is being penned down by the judges.

One has heard numerous talking heads on the ‘idiot box’ suddenly changing their ‘considered’ opinions and reputable columnists penning the same mantra in their recent columns in the newspapers, all this leaving those with just a little bit sanity, scratching their heads till what little hair left have fallen down in a heap next to their chairs.

What has changed so drastically within a few days? Yes, the COAS has been to Saudi Arabia and Qatar recently and Nawaz Sharif has visited Turkey for a sumptuous dinner. Were there messages delivered to the army top brass on these visits to let a mafia continue pillaging the state coffers without any hindrance? Was PM Nawaz Sharif given the ‘good’ news at that dinner in Qatar? And so relieved was he by this ‘bolt of lightening’, that he could not help but sing an Indian song in Karachi today?

For those still trying to figure out the guilt or innocence of the third time PM, one only needs to ask them to go through the final presentation of Sheikh Rashid in the Supreme Court. For any ordinary citizen of the country, the humiliation that Mr. Nawaz Sharif has suffered during this Panama gate trial would have been a ‘wall of shame’, but he goes and whistles a tune in public.

The multiple layers of lies and distortions meted out by the cabal of darbaris daily in defense of their ‘man’, would stun the wits out of those with the thickest of skins, but yet they continue again with a fervor unmatched for the last two weeks. Within this maelstrom of mendacity lies an urgent will to change the narrative, both of the judges and the establishment.

The question that begs to be answered, for if these rumblings of a ‘clean chit’ are to be believed is, what transpired in the last two weeks? Have the Honourable Judges of the Supreme Court been influenced, coerced or threatened to change their opinions contrary to their remarks in reaction to the incredulous presentations by the lawyers of the Sharif family during the hearings, or has the highest judiciary of this land, once again decided to have their reputations further tarnished?

It is also a given that the superior judges have not listened to anyone in the past, sparing the Sharif family, except for The Boots. As one retired Chief Justice told the writer almost two decades ago while watching a cricket match at Gaddafi Stadium, “When giving an important decision, our ears are pointed towards the ground for the echo of the boots”. So is one to believe that those in whose nursery this plant of the Sharif political dynasty was nurtured, have once again swiveled their baton to save him from a difficult judgment?

If those with Red Stripes have actually played a dirty game with the people of this country and their day of reckoning awaits them in the afterworld for sure. No Generals, nor the Supreme Court Judges can play with the destiny of this country any longer. That we have gained a reputation both as a banana republic and a slave of the West, is sure because our institutions have lately been shirking from their oath.

What is making our reputable armed forces the butt of jokes in the eyes of the nation and of those abroad, that they have not had the guts to catch and punish those who deliberately and shamelessly disgraced them through ‘Dawn Leaks’? Any surprise that there is evidence and a conviction all over the land that it was none other than the ‘queen’ in waiting who masterminded the whole affair? The Chief is questioned at his regular visits to the “formations” about the final results of the inquiry into this ugly and despicable affair, yet he puts forth nothing but excuses and promises of a report soon. How has it affected the morale of those young officers who take pride in the uniform that they wear as to how rubbery kneed their Chief is?

For those wearing the robes in that ‘House on the Constitution Avenue’ and who are thus referred to by mortals appearing in front of them as “My Lords”, let this be a reminder that upon your shoulders and in your pens, rests at stake the future of Pakistan. Will it continue to be ruled by corrupt and dishonest people who are to be allowed free licence to pillage its resources for their personal will, while their 20 crore subjects are walking around without any hope or future, or will this be the decision that will put our nation back on the moral footings that our leader Mohammad Ali Jinnah strived for.

The hour is near, and My Lords, you can either ‘Go gently into this great night or you can Go Boldly into this great night’. The people of Pakistan are praying that you choose to ‘Go Boldly’.