Moeed Pirzada @MoeedNj Important - Please Share! Why Court Decisions create a bigger deadlock? - Supreme Court decision asking PTI &... http://fb.me/6GEn70c6y
Important - Please Share!
Why Court Decisions create a bigger deadlock? - Supreme Court decision asking PTI & PAT leaders to clear the Const. Ave has wider implications.
First, Courts are seen to be intervening very selectively in a political situation that favors one side - PMLN & its allies - against the other ie PTI and its allies in a charged atmosphere in which protesting opposition had been accusing courts to be partisan and referred to them repeatedly as "Sharif Courts". In the past several weeks Courts have failed to take any meaningful notice of Executive blocking the "right of movement" across a large part of Pakistan from Lahore to Islamabad; Courts have also failed to provide relief to the continuous blocking of entry points into Islamabad from Pindi and all other adjacent areas which Police does to prevent protestors reaching Islamabad.
Second, Courts have failed to take notice of thousands of Arrests - preventive detentions - which Punjab Police has been doing intermittently all across Punjab since June to erode PAT & PTI's ability to collect crowds.
Third, Courts including Supreme Court failed to react to the "Massacres in Model Town in June" and have not taken any meaningful action to force Punjab govt to register FIR's of Murder as per the law and convention of the country.
Within this context of law & politics Supreme Court demanding protesters to clear the Const. Ave in the interest of "Right of Passage" of Hon. Judges and their staff looks very insensitive and unconvincing. It is being understood by the Opposition as Courts appearing clearly on the side of the PMLN govt. both in Lahore and in Islamabad. Because they perceive that Courts have failed to put pressure on govt. in all instances to act by law and constitution but at the same time they are acting to relieve govt. from political pressure which otherwise compels govt to seek political compromises.
What has changed today? - Courts unlike the medieval papal authorities have no physical powers of their own; they have merely provided a legitimacy to the use of force against the protestors, which is important because Islamabad Police had deemed it unprofessional and had been asking for written instructions from their political bosses. Also courts have threatened Imran Khan and Dr. Qadri with contempt of court- further tipping the scales against an angry and restive opposition.
All this would have made sense in a situation where both sides would have trust in the courts. But in an extremely polarized situation developing since Elections 2013 where opposition parties have been openly accusing courts to be partisan towards PMLN and where partisan judiciary has been cited as a major part of the political problem these recent statements and decisions emanating from the courts further reduce their ability to resolve the political deadlock. Example: All sides have been continuously demanding Supreme Court Judicial Commissions to inquire into Election Riggings, Vote Recounts and Murders in Model Town. With these new decisions courts have deprived the country of the kind of "Middle Ground" or "Intervening Forums" which both sides can trust and desperately need to resolve their conflict. This is a major loss to the political system - and has grave risks. And one hopes that Hon. Justices get to reflect on the emerging deadlock.
With Hopes & honest prayers!
