You have changed so much; You don’t even write a blog anymore¹

You are not as funny as you used to be. You have grown old. You have stopped laughing. You are in depression for leaving the States.

The best was - You have completely changed. You don’t even write a blog anymore. (How ‘changing’ which happens as a normal course, approximately 3 months after one starts dating a woman, is related to writing a blog. I don’t know)

Such were the comments from a dear woman friend of mine, from my days in the land of opportunity, when we spoke yesterday. The idea was to get me back to writing.

For the last so many months, friends and foes alike, have asked me to start writing again. Friends because they are my friends, and by virtue of that, they have not much to do. Foes because they still think I can actually become something one day. (Little do they know). So, after getting tired of distracting me by way of other means, they want me to write uselessly.

Well then, you may ask, and rightly so, as to why am I beginning to write again?

Maybe I just want to maintain a bit of sanity in my incredibly ‘legal’ life. Legal may not be construed as boring in the preceding sentence, by the way.

Regardless, the point is that I am back in the game. My foes have succeeded, and my friends have another reason to waste time. For me, I am still single, driving even a smaller car, living with parents, and writing a blog on a Saturday night.

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I am blessed with living in the City of Lights these days. Those of you who grew up watching PTV (Pakistan Television Channel) will know what I am talking about.

Those of you who were deprived like myself, whose parents wanted TV to be educational, and only allowed them to watch PTV2, may have difficulty understanding this phrase. For these creatures, I have nothing to say but to express my utmost sympathies. While this may not make things any better, may I just suggest that many of my friends attribute my personality deficiencies to watching PTV2 throughout childhood. To what extent it is correct, I will let the avid audience of PTV2 decide.

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Coming back to the City of Lights. Karachi. In spite of the kidnappings, robberies, muggings, electricity shutdowns, traffic jams, and what not, it is still considered the City of Lights. How so, you may ask? Well honestly, I have been here for quite some time but haven’t figured it out. Perhaps I will go watch the all time educational channel, PTV2, and see if I can find an answer.

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I had a very pro-Pakistan friend who had never traveled outside Pakistan. He went to the land of opportunity to pursue a masters degree. He of course hailed from the beautiful “City of Lights”. His remarks, a couple of months after he left Karachi, were

“Dude, what are we calling a city of lights? I was dumbfounded when I landed here…”

I will spare you the details but it is worth mentioning that he did not go to NYC or LA. He actually went to this small town in Kentucky.


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Does anyone else see the irony in the fact that the City of Lights faced an average electricity shutdowns of 16 hours last month. Most of the shutdowns happened during the night.

City of Lights is conserving energy.

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Most of you are probably familiar with the posts I wrote a couple of years ago, titled Dating a Desi Girl 101. Something very interesting happened a couple of days ago. Someone left a comment on that post advertising their online singles website. I am not sure if I am thought of as a desperado or what. But at a certain level, my blog being used for advertising ‘meet singles’ website, is somewhat promising.

Whether I started writing again to avoid such instances is probably not true. But then again, as they say, never say never.

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1. From a rather nostalgic conversation last night. Not mine, but I refuse to give due credit.

A tale of people that did'nt learn from history...

We have all cried and sobbed at the unfortunate loss of Pakistan against Ireland. The humiliating defeat has left some of us dejected, some depressed, and some outright violent. The drama of the death of Bob Wolmer that ensued has also sent shock waves amongst cricket fans. We slowly come at terms with the reality; we slowly realize, re-realize, and finally understand, that while the finest teams of the world are playing admirable cricket in Super-8, we were kicked out by a non-test playing, non-ODI playing nation.

Shame.

When nations are collapsing, when states are disintegrating, then this demise is witnessed in each and every institution. Cricket being just one of them.

I am not going to talk about the imposition of ‘dictatorship’ in the form of a General on cricket board. I know it’s a thing of past. I am not even going to complain about the mishandling of the team before World Cup, the bowling coach, the administration of PCB, etc.

No Sir, I am not going to talk about the past. The damage has been done. What was to happen, has happened. Hundreds like me kept banging their heads against the wall and no one listened. And why would they? Who cares about the ‘drawing room philosophers’?

A man can give up thinking about past, speaking about past, talking about past, writing about past. But what to do when even after such a humongous catastrophe, the nation in general, and the ‘Cricket powers that be’ in particular, have learned no lesson? I would have kept quite, but my blood started boiling with anger and disgust at the following events. I can’t help but scribble down my thoughts.

First event:
We all love Inzemam, don’t we? Who doesn’t recognize his contribution to Pakistani cricket? Is it only I who sometime skipped a class to watch Inzemam’s innings? And I kid you not, there were times when I was more interested in how much runs did Inzi score, and less interested in Pakistan’s total score.

That very man has lost even the minutest respect he had amongst the people. Part of it is the fact that he played a key role in bringing Pakistan cricket to this abyss, but more so because he has the guts to come on TV and tell people that Pakistan lost because of bad luck. (the exact words were ‘qismet’). I mean, have we lost all sense of self-respect, all sense of taking responsibility for our failures?

As the ‘Sultan of Multan’ wept on his way out during his last One Day International, I contemplated

No wonder Pakistan team had to see this point. If the Sultans are to start weeping in public, then what better can you expect?
I also wondered if he cried because it was his last ODI, or was he for once remorseful for the absolute nadir he has taken Pakistani team into?


Second event:

Many informed Pakistanis are baffled at the incident below. Instead of reorganizing, in fact, revamping the Pakistan Cricket Board, what Dr. Naseem Ashraf did was to pack the whole PCB with his cronies. Not surprisingly, many and most of them are high ranking government officials. Eloquently dressed in their Armani suits, they attended the press conference organized by Naseem Ashraf and vowed to bring order to Cricket.

For once, can we please put an end to pleasing the Generals and bureaucrats? For once, can we please think about the sport? The Nation? For once can we please let Cricket into the hands of cricketers, and not officers?

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My blood, along with that of several others who are dismayed, keeps boiling.

Could the 'silent majority' please speak up?

I am a fan of Mr. Mohsin Hamid ever since ‘Moth Smoke’. It was indeed refreshing to see a timely and critical article by him in New York Times. Mr. Hamid rightly points out that General Musharraf has never been popular amongst the masses. Mr. Mohsin Hamid, however, fails to recognize the very inherent flaw with Pakistanis who have been supportive of the current regime.

President Musharraf took over power in a coup after over-throwing a popular and democratically elected government. Notwithstanding the fact that there are certain things that General Musharraf has done for the country which are very commendable, no good should be expected out of a person who himself came to power by violating the constitution. It is, in fact, very naïve to hope that a general will build institutions for a nation. If Pakistanis desire ‘institutions’, people through their democratically elected representatives will have to establish them. Democracy is the most vital institution and before ‘establishing’ other institutions, Pakistan will have to let democracy flourish.

The silent majority that Mohsin Hamid refers to is that very educated and elite class of Pakistan which is perfectly pleased and content with status quo. The only reason there is a slight uneasiness amongst them is because they have just woken up to realize that the whole nation has crumbled. Corruption is rampant and undemocratic forces are employing any and all mechanisms in order to further their grip on power. The forces of fundamentalism and fanaticism are on the rise, thus filling the gap created by sidelining the political parties. The spirit of society is wounded; if no action is taken at this moment, the whole of Pakistan will disintegrate.

Lest the so called ‘silent majority’ miss even this opportunity to rise for democracy, history will never forgive her for its apathy.

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The article by Mohsin Hamid mentioned above can be found at

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/opinion/27mohsin.html

Due process of law, and its lack thereof

The events of last few days must leave little doubt regarding what was the real motive behind the ‘open letter’ this author duly published last week. It is more than clear that certain ‘higher authorities’ were behind this letter with a purpose that is anyone’s guess now. I am told by some lawyers and others close to Pakistani politics that not all the facts mentioned in this letter are untrue. It is maintained by them that most of the claims in the letter are partially true. Why is the general public so upset then? Why have the lawyers refused to enter the courts, and why has the whole nation concurred on this blatant act of autocracy?

The fifth Amendment to the U.S. constitution, which was included in the document on 12/15/1971, states,

“No person shall be… without due process of law…”

The term “due process of law” has been often imported into Pakistani political and legal discussions.

The argument goes that even if the allegations against the Chief Justice of Pakistan are factual, the government of the day must follow the constitutional provisions laid down for taking account of such behavior. Essentially then, there must be a ‘due process of law’.

There is no justification for keeping the honorable Chief Justice of Pakistan in Army house for 6 hours, stopping him from going to Supreme Court by the police officers, putting him under house arrest, making him incommunicado, allowing him to meet only 4 persons in more than 72 hours, and then on top of that, claiming that all these actions are constitutional by the sycophants of General Musharraf.

True that a person whose very basis is wrong, someone who rose to power by overthrowing a Prime Minster enjoying two thirds majority of the country’s parliament, a person who lead a coup after he was removed from the army, a person in whose regime the country has seen its worse, can possibly not have any regard for ‘due process of law’.

On a related note, since Mr. Ch. Shujaat Hussain is in America these days, could he please spend some time understanding the principle of democracy which he claims to have restored in Pakistan. Perhaps a little bit of reading, reasoning, and rationality will make it clear to him that the egregious removal of Chief Justice of Pakistan is not a ‘private matter’ between the Army and the Judiciary. The modern world defines democracy differently, Chaudry Sahib, then what you call ‘Jamhooriat’ as you lounge in your palaces in Punjab.

Is everything legal in Pakistan? Really?

Note: The blog owner does not accept any responsibility for the materials and facts mentioned in the letter.

Below is a letter from a prominent Pakistani lawyer to the Chief Justice of Pakistan. While I am a proponent of maintaining the sanctity of the judiciary and especially that of the Cheif Justice of Pakistan, I think the view point of an eminent advocate of Supreme Court of Pakistan carries substantial, if not significant, weight and must at least be given a thorough read.

I will conceal my emotions here because being an 'ordinary' man; I do not think they matter. However, I have 2 friends, both very eloquent, erudite and learned who took this letter very differently.

One was so shocked at the conduct of judiciary that he practically stayed awake all night.

The other dismissed the idea claiming that 'in Pakistan, everyone does this'

Now, I am no political philosopher, nor am I by any stretch of imagination a sociologist, nevertheless, I wonder if such disparities in perceptions represent the very nucleus of the depleting Pakistani society? A society that lacks any morals, values, traditions, but boasts BMWs, multiple TV channels, alcohol, etc.

When there is a lack of rain in the fields of Pakistan, on Fridays the mosques would have special prayers where the believers would cry, weep, and sob, and where they would turn their hands upside down to pray for rain. Turning the hands upside down when praying signifies, or rather asserts, a state of helplessness and weakness. It tells the Almighty, O’Allah, we have had enough, we are hapless, we are the unfortunate ones, forgive our sins and have mercy on us.

Considering the apathy of the nation, and realizing the ineffectiveness of our youth to send the dictators back to barracks, I wonder if the time has come to go to mosques and start praying with our hands upside down?

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February 16, 2007

Mr. Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry
Chief Justice
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Islamabad

Subject: Open letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan


My Lord,

I write this letter as an Officer of the Supreme Court, as an Advocate enrolled in the apex court since 1984 and in the High Courts since 1972, as an Attorney who has paid more income tax from his earnings in the legal profession than many of my friends, colleagues and seniors elevated to the Bench and as a stake holder in the dispensation of justice, intimately and vitally interested in the functioning of the Supreme Court.

Many judges who adorn the Bench in the Supreme Court and the High Court know me over decades, as a person endowed by nature with a pleasant disposition and acceptance of human failings. Towards the courts, my approach has always been of consistent and continuous display of respect and humility. I bow out of conviction, not compulsion. I use the words “My Lords”, because I want to, not because I have to. As an Attorney, I look up to the court and want to see it on a high pedestal of dignity, compassion and justice, tempered with mercy.

I have seen my Supreme Court headed by Justice Hamood-ur-Rehman, Justice Yaqoob Ali Khan, Justice S. Anwar-ul-Haq, Justice Haleem Ahmed and how the court functioned under them in the seventies / eighties.

I witnessed the proceedings for the ouster of Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, became aware that the then Prime Minister of Pakistan had ‘worked’ on some judges of the Supreme Court and saw the physical assault on the court.

I was appalled at the manner in which Justice Irshad Hasan Khan led the Supreme Court and pained at the insinuations against Justice Sheikh Riaz, when he was the Chief Justice.

I was horrified by the establishment of a Bench of five judges constituted by Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui to determine whether reduction in the retirement age for judges was constitutional or not. This was clearly designed to block your appointment. I was against the idea of Mr. Amirul Mulk Mengal being made the Chief Justice before you. Within the limits of my influence (which I readily admit to be very limited), I was totally for you to become the Chief Justice. Justice Javed Buttar is aware of my position, as is the Attorney General for Pakistan. The accelerated issue of the notification appointing you the Chief Justice put Justice Siddiqui’s move to rest.

I believed that you were vigorous, capable of lifting up the Supreme Court, creating an espirit-de-corps among your brother judges, restoring the dignity and grandeur of the apex court, particularly considering the long tenure before you.

Alas this has not come about.

I am not perturbed by your insistence on protocol (despite my belief that the Chief Justice would rise in the eyes of everybody if he walked from his residence to the court and hooters, police escort, flags is just fluff not the substance of an office).

I am mildly amused at your desire to be presented a guard of honour in Peshawar. I am titillated by the appropriation of Mercedes Benz car or is it cars, the use of the Government of the Punjab’s plane to offer Fateha in Multan, to Sheikhupura for Fateha on a Government of the Punjab helicopter, to Hyderabad on a Government of the Sind’s plane for attending a High Court function, the huge amount spent in refurbishing the chamber and residence of the Chief Justice, the reservation for yourself of a wing in Supreme Court Judges guest house in Lahore, the permanent occupation by the Supreme Court of the official residence of the Chief Justice of Sind, who per force lives in the basement of his father’s house. As his class fellow in the Government College, Lahore, I can vouch that living in the basement will do him no harm.

I am not perturbed that Dr. Arsalaan (your son) secured 16/100 in the English paper for the Civil Services Examination, that there is some case against him in some court in Baluchistan, that from the Health Department in Baluchistan he has shifted to FIA, that he has obtained training in the Police Academy, that he reportedly drives a BMW 7-Series car, that there is a complaint against him with the National Accountability Bureau.

My grievances and protests are different.

I am perturbed that the Supreme Court should issue a clarificatory statement on his behalf. I am perturbed that Justice (Retd.) Wajihuddin Ahmed should be constrained to advise you on television that “people who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others”. I am perturbed that the Chief Justice should summon Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman to his chambers on Dr. Arsalaan’s account.

I am appalled that you announce decisions in Court, while in the written judgment an opposite conclusion is recorded.

In the Petition for leave to appeal filed by Dr Sher Afghan Niazi, Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs (in which Respondent’s Counsel were Mr Khalid Anwar and Mr Qadir Saeed), you refused to grant leave in open Court and yet in the written order, leave was granted to Dr Sher Afghan Niazi.

On 15.2.2007, Mr Fakurddin G. Ebrahim complained that, in open Court you had accepted his appeal but dismissed the same in the judgement, subsequently recorded.

If Mr Khalid Anwar, a former Minister of Law and Parliamentary Affairs and Mr Fakrhuddin, Senior Counsel are treated in this manner, the fate of lesser known lawyers would certainly be far worse.

My grievances also concern the manner in which the last and highest court of appeal is dispensing justice, under your leadership.

My Lord, the dignity of lawyers is consistently being violated by you. We are treated harshly, rudely, brusquely and nastily. We are not heard. We are not allowed to present our case. There is little scope for advocacy. The words used in the Bar Room for Court No. 1 are “the slaughter house”. We are cowed down by aggression from the Bench, led by you. All we receive from you is arrogance, aggression and belligerence. You also throw away the file, while contemptuously announcing “This is dismissed”.

Yet this aggression is not for everyone. When Mr. Sharifuddin Pirzada appears, your Lordship’s demeanour and appearance is not just sugar and honey. You are obsequitious to the point of meekness. So apart from violating our dignity, which the constitution commands to be inviolable, we suffer discrimination in your court.

I am not raising the issue of verbal onslaughts and threats to Police Officers and other Civil Servants, who have the misfortune to be summoned, degraded and reminded that “This is the Supreme Court”.

The way in which My Lord, conducts proceedings is not conducive to the process of justice. In fact, it obstructs due process and constitutes contempt of the Supreme Court itself.

I am pained at the wide publicity to cases taken up by My Lord in the Supreme Court under the banner of Fundamental Rights. The proceedings before the Supreme Court can conveniently and easily be referred to the District and Sessions Judges. I am further pained by the media coverage of the Supreme Court on the recovery of a female. In the bar room, this is referred to as a “Media Circus”.

My Lord, this communication may anger you and you are in any case prone to get angry in a flash, but do reflect upon it. Perhaps you are not cognizant of what your brother judges feel and say about you.

My Lord, before a rebellion arises among your brother judges( as in the case of Mr Justice Sajjad Ali Shah), before the Bar stands up collectively and before the entire matter is placed before the Supreme Judicial Council, there may be time to change and make amends.

I hope you have the wisdom and courage to make these amends and restore serenity, calm, compassion, patience and justice tempered with mercy to my Supreme Court.

My Lord, we all live in the womb of time and are judged, both by the present and by history. The judgement about you, being rendered in the present, is adverse in the extreme.


Yours faithfully,



Naeem Bokhari
Advocate
Supreme Court of Pakistan

Irony, par excellance

The pop music scene of Pakistan is currently dominated by a pretty popular and widely watched channel, 'The Musik'. The channel mainly concentrates on Pakistani pop music, however, a fair share of time is also awarded to other Pakistani and foreign music videos.

The channel these days runs a ‘public service message’. The message starts with a memorable picture of Honorable Mr. Jinnah and Honorable Mr. Gandhi. Then, the ‘public service message’ shows the picture of an Army dictator, whose policies have left his country without an ideology and who has continued his rule at the expense of an ethnically, religiously, and racially divided nation. Yes, none other than the favorite of English speaking American educated elite class of Pakistan, General Musharraf.

The General is shown in an army uniform. The caption of this picture makes it one of the most ironic pictures of 2006. It read, ‘A revolution is in progress’.

This is a television that targets the youth of the Islamic Republic. The youth of Pakistan are so misinformed, unfortunately enough, that they have come to terms with a dictator; some so eloquently arguing that democracy is not for Pakistan. Gone are the days when Karachi University was highly political, very intellectual institution, and it was at this prestigious school that the winds of changes would start to blow. And the sycophants of Islamabad would feel the change, as soon as the students of Punjab University would make up their mind that enough is enough.

Not anymore my friends, not anymore. Now the students of these places are no where to be seen, and are replaced by English speaking graduates of IBA, LUMS, SZABIST, CBM, and the like. Dressed in their white shirts, navy blue suits, and pink ties, they head to the corporate Pakistan every morning, and spend their time talking about cell phones, plasma TVs, imported cars, parties, alcohol, and every material thing one can think of. They are happy earning Rs. 25K as management associates, and take great pride in going on a vacation to Dubai. They also argue that Pakistan has never made the progress that it is making now. How misinformed are they, really?

Do they not see the very spinal cord of Pakistan, our identity, being ruptured? Do they not see how the army has solidified itself, and now boasts to be a political force? Do they not see that while the poor is getting poorer, every single army officer is getting rich? What about the Fake Muslim League politicians who have taken corruption to a new level? What about a Prime Minster who cannot realistically be elected even to the post of a councilor? (Nazim is too far of a stretch for the well kempt banker) No Sir, who cares about this. Lets talk about the new Nokia 6230, and the ring tones that Telenor is offering.

Witnessing such incredible irony on a TV that targets the youth - where an army General is termed a revolutionary - would make people shed tears of blood. The youth of Pakistan is so apathetic that it doesn’t even criticize such statements, let alone shedding tears. And those who do are termed backward and uneducated. If education is the name of banishing Islam, adopting army rule, supporting the west without any logic, sidelining all political parties, violating human rights, then yes I am not only uneducated, I am a complete illiterate. And so are the rest of us who refuse to bow in front of the totalitarian regime.

And we refuse to accept this order. An order of pseudo-democracy.


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"The time has come, Mr Speaker, that we should say, Mr Martial Law, attention, about-turn, quick march, go back to your barracks and never come again."

- Mr Javed Hashmi from his speech in the National Assembly delivered on June 6, 1985. Mr. Hashmi is currently in jail for speaking against the army. He belongs to the Nawaz Sharif’s faction of Pakistan Muslim League.


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Deep jis ka mehlaat he mein jalay, Chand logoon ki khushion ko lay kar chalaye,
Woh jo saye mein har maslihat ki palaye,
Aisaye dastoor ko, subh e bay noor ko,
Mein nahen manta, mein nahen jaanta

From Dastoor by Habib Jalib

Translation

The light of which is only in castles, in palaces,
That which is at the whim of certain people, an elite class
That which is compromised by its creators, for its creators,
That constitution, a morning without a light,
I refuse to recognize, I refuse to acknowledge.

Subject: Blogs: Why ban such an effective media?

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ‘Blog’ as ‘a website that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer’ According to a blog search engine there are currently 60 million operational blogs. Surprisingly enough, there are some blogs that receive more than a million hits a day.

Blogs provide an extremely cheap yet effective medium of communication. By way of a blog, anyone with an ability to write, and the fervor to do so, can scribble his thoughts about various issues ranging from politics, religion, food, sports, media, law, medicine, and the list goes on. More importantly, a blogger can publish his/her thoughts on a blog with practically no cost and this ensures that even ‘not so commercial’ issues are being discussed and deliberated upon.

Unfortunately enough, the Government of Pakistan has banned the most famous blogging website, www.blogspot.com. The ban came after one of the blog writers posted the unfortunate and disrespectful cartoons of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) initially published in Denmark. While there is no denying to the fact that such an instance must be curtailed to the extent possible, there is also no explanation for blocking several millions blogs.

The present government has done a marvelous job by allowing multiple private TV and radio channels, thus ensuring general public’s access to unbiased news. The concerned authorities must also lift the ban from www.blogspot.com website so that Pakistani intellectuals can share their thoughts with millions of people around Pakistan, and all across the world, while at the same time viewing and reading others’ perspectives.

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Note: This article was orignally written to be published in Dawn newspaper as a letter to editor. Like my previous letters to the respectable newspaper, this was never published.