CHANGE NEVER COMES: IT IS MADE TO COME

Nothing will come out of the Judicial Commission on Hamid Mir. Nothing ever came out of the judicial commissions in the past. So, let us not fool ourselves into believing that we will know the truth. It will never come out. Judiciary has all along been a part of the ruling class from the days of Chief Justice Munir who inflicted the curse of the ‘Doctrine of Necessity’ on the nascent democracy in 1954. That curse haunted us for the past half a century and may haunt us for the next half a century, with or without Article 6, UNLESS we stand up and say NO to it and also provide a sustainable alternate solution.

All state organs are dependent on public support for their survival. Unless the survival is ensured, it will be foolish to expect independence, integrity and honour and other attributes of the angels from the earthly souls.

Way back in 1977, I had a courtesy call on the Election Cell in the PM House. A top aide of the prime minister remarked in front of half a dozen persons that ‘yeh high court kay judges tu bechare apni choti choti mara’aat kay liye hamare aage beeche phirte rehte hain.‘ If I remember correctly, the remark was made in response to somebody’s comment over a probable writ petition in some high court over some issue. That was the level of respect being accorded to the members of the judiciary. That still continues. Only the shade and the shadow changed. The least said, the better. 

It is an irony (not necessarily of fate) that the media that is supposed to represent the public stooped so low as to attempt defaming one of the most respected institutions of the country for their own vested interests. I know the history of Jang Group from the day it was born. The least said, the better.

As far as the politicians are concerned, they have a love-and-hate relationship with the army. They worship the army when they embark on its shoulders and curse it when they are disembarked. The least said, the better.

Last but not least, where is the public? The mindset has changed but only in a part of the general public. That’s the youth of Pakistan. I remember how the LUMS students stood up when the Good Governance Forum launched the first ever online campaign against the removal of the then CJP by the former president Pervez Musharraf in 2007. That change has sustained and its effects geometrically progressed over the past seven years. It was the change that propelled the huge voter turnout in the last May elections in Pakistan, leaving aside the fact that the youth’s votes were stolen at many places. I repeatedly tell the youth that they must not be disheartened by the robbery. That is again a part of the process of change.

Pakistan has been undergoing the change over the past seven years, in particular. The outcry over the Geo’s onslaught on the army and the ISI manifested on social media is an undeniable reflection of the change. It is time to harness the change and lead the youth onto the ultimate destination. And the ultimate destination is good governance; the only solution to Pakistan’s woes.  Leading the youth is again our job: the job of the elders who are competent, courageous and committed. Where are those elders? I am still searching for those souls: couldn’t find even one hundred of them in last seven years. 

Prayers alone don’t work. Niyat, irada and koshish are mandatory. Only then, success is promised by the Almighty.

Mumtaz A. Piracha

Founder/Chairman

Good Governance Forum