Judiciary Above Suspicion

When the Prophet brought Islam to Arabia, one of the first things he requested of his followers was to abandon the tradition of long, trailing robes worn by the elite tribesmen at the time. The length of the robe indicated status and position, most often earned through wealth, not respect. [The fact that our Mullahs have distorted that to mean that only men who wear shar’ai shalwars that expose their ankles are true Muslims is just part of their ignorance, and best left to discussion in another post and another time.]

Today, the charges against CJ Iftikhar were printed in the paper, and I have to say, if even one of those charges is true, then I am appalled at our Judiciary – the CJ, and the protesters on his behalf. A free and fair judiciary should mean that the men and women peopling that institution should be above suspicion – honest, fair and courageous. To use one’s power to place one’s son in an undeserving position is none of the above. This was once known as ‘sifarish‘ and was considered a shameful act, at par with ‘rishwat‘. Obviously, it isn’t anymore.

Since this debacle with the Chief Justice began, numerous jurists and lawyers have resigned from their posts and boycotted the courts in protest, because apparently, the supreme judicial power in the land cannot be held accountable for any misconduct. Apparently, to be a supreme judicial power means to be above the law. Perhaps the judges that resigned, aspirants to the throne, would like that position of power to remain untouched, so that when they eventually get the chair, they too will not be held accountable for any misconduct.

The worst statement I’ve heard so far is that the allegations brought against him are too minor to have warranted a suspension, or a trial. According to AFP, Aitzaz Ahsan is quoted as saying: “This charge-sheet is childish, in fact these are not charges. There is not a single charge on financial corruption against the chief justice.”

Am I to understand that the man who does not commit financial corruption must be an honest man? Are we to settle for ‘less corrupt’, when we should be demanding honest and fair from our Judiciary? So this means that if we abuse power for our own benefit, to further our careers, or someone else’s career for instance, then that’s okay, since we didn’t steal from the exchequer. If we were to agree with this statement, then we deserve the leaders we have gotten. We deserve the thieves, the butchers, the self-serving feudals as our politicians, because their values are our values, because we worship money not Allah, and nothing is worse, obviously, than financial loss.

The robes of our Chief Justice and his fellow jurists sweep a long trail on the dirty floor. They are the Abu Sufyans of our day, and the small crimes they commit today make it okay for them to commit bigger ones tomorrow. Worse, they have the power to amend our laws according to their own needs, and to give this power to someone with no compunction, no compassion, and no morality is to lay down our bodies on the road, and not complain when they drive over us in their shiny, black mercedes.

If any of you believe, truly, that these charges are minor, and that the President had no right to suspend the CJ on the basis of these, then you deserve every ruler that has ever robbed you, left you without basic amenities, security or justice in your life.