When Justice does not work, power takes over in Pakistan. And luckily, when it works, it subdues all power. The opportunity, to subdue all under law, knocks at the door of Mr. Chief Justice, Umer Ata Bandiyal.
Since thousands of cases of murder, land grabbing, dacoity, etc are shelved hence judiciary has lost importance and only political cases are in the limelight which put the honorable judges under a lot of unfair criticism by politicians. Had the general cases been disposed of earlier, at least the corrupt politicians didn’t have the guts to come on media and criticize the judiciary.
Hearing of political cases has become an entertainment and a focal event for masses who are glued to media. Sadly, all other cases affecting the lives of the masses lost the attention they deserve. This marginalization of massive cases through the absence of timely justice leads to criminals taken as heroes being glorified by society.
Major Cause of Delayed or No Justice
It is observed that many lawyers distract the courts to the benefit of their clients. It is, however, pertinent that the masses are awakened now and no community or union can override the will of the people. Please take control of all resources to clear the backlog of 21 lacs cases. After all, Judiciary is the main pillar of the State and the most independent one. It is said you have cleared a couple of thousand cases from Supreme Court pending cases of 54,000, however, 2 million cases pending in high and district courts require greater push and an extra mile from your honor.
In Pakistan, we have a situation where the judiciary has never been able to establish authority over all powers letting the powers reflect the saying “Power Without Justice is Tyranny”.
To assert authority, call all those to court who are holding political press conferences from both sides. It’s your time and it’s now. Just subdue all power units under law, however, morally, the judiciary has to immediately target the pending 21 lacs cases on war footing within a couple of years.
Divine Authority
To clear the backlog, a target may be set, involving media, executive and security establishments as the judiciary has an earthly as well as heavenly authority to come to the rescue of all the powerless. To quote Quran
“O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allah, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives. Whether one is rich or poor, Allah is more worthy of both” (Quran. 4:135)
And to quote Shakespeare, “Thieves for their robbery have authority when judges steal themselves”
Currently, the watchdog of fairness in my country ranks among the lowest in the world. Great Reformer Martin Luther King Jr. said “Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress”.
Please don’t let the judiciary become “a heavy axe without an edge”.
Mushtaq Jumma is an Ex-Airliner and Business Consultant. He can be reached at mushtaqjumma@hotmail.com. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.