Looking back at the Lawyers’ Movement

Did the movement bring a fundamental change in the state and the society and the relationship between the two? by Ayesha Siddiqa The protests, rallies and demonstrations by the legal community from 2007 to 2009 took everyone in and outside Pakistan by surprise. People were impressed with the perseverance of the lawyer’s from around the [...]

Ayaz Amir Lashes Out At the NGOs

Will ‘civil society’ please take a rest? by Ayaz Amir  The lawyers’ movement fostered many illusions, none more powerful than the myth that there was something called civil society in Pakistan, good people out to do good and inspired by the best of intentions. Retired bureaucrats, professors of academia in search of a cause, society [...]

Criticism of the Supreme Court by Shafiq Awan

Justice should be blind, not deaf and dumb Shafiq Awan/ Daily Times Nodoubt the Supreme Court did a wonderful job and for the first time in history, we saw sacred cows at the mercy of the court, otherwise they were considered to be above the law and we salute the Chief justice Mr Iftikhar Muhammad [...]

Is the Chief Justice Acting on His Own?

In a country where politics can get very personal, the Chief Justice’s relationships with the pillars of civilian and military power, President Zardari and Army Chief of Staff General Ashfaq Kayani respectively, could be important in shaping Pakistan’s transition from de facto military rule to civilian democracy.  And those relationships are likely to be tested [...]

Judicial Crisis: Appointment of Judges

Again a judicial crisis – not a bonafide crisis but a crisis created for ulterior reasons Ostensibly the crisis is the elevation of chief justice for the Lahore High Court in the Supreme Court, the elevation of the next senior most judge Justice Saquib Nasir, as acting Chief Justice of Lahroe High Court (a la [...]

Is Musharraf Alone Guilty of Treason?: Danyal Aziz

Is Mr. Ansar Abbasi right about invoking Article 6 of the Constitution against former President Musharraf?   A dispassionate analysis of the said article of the Constitution proves that he is not right.   Article 6 states in clause 2 that “any person aiding or abetting the acts mentioned in clause 1 shall likewise be guilty of high [...]

Operation Blue Tulsi: Destroying Pakistan’s Nuclear Assets

PPP government was dismissed in 1996 because Rehman Malik, DG FIA and Asif Zardari had promised Indians and Israelis access to Pakistan’s nuclear facilities.  In 1994-95 Rehman Malik was working in tandem with this immediate boss Ghulam Asghar, head of the FIA, and under the auspices of Asif Zardari, collecting information about Pakistan’s nuclear installations. Malik [...]

How Much Paid to Lawyers to Defend Musharraf?

By Ansar Abbasi PM Gilani’s government appears hell-bent upon keeping under wraps the hefty fees paid from the taxpayers’ money to the Pirzadas, Bukharis, Qayyums of this world during the tenure of the ousted dictator, Gen Musharraf. The government is steadfastly resisting a formal request to unveil the identity of all those lawyers who made fortunes [...]

Lawyers’ Movement was Given Rs 30 Billion?

The Lawyers’ Movement initially began as a result of the actions taken by General Musharraf on 9th March, 2007. Musharraf, after getting intelligence that Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was conspiring with Nawaz Sharif to overthrow the government called for a meeting and asking him to resign or face “charges of misconduct”. The Chief Justice [...]

Chief Justice Met Musharraf Before Announcing Steel Mills Judgment

By Nayyar Afaq/ March 17, 2009 On one hand, terrorism and extremism is getting their roots deep in society, while on the other, the country is suffering a worst form of financial meltdown. On one side, armed forces and intelligence agencies are getting maligned through international campaign, and on the other, an environment is getting set that [...]