The miscalculation which doomed Musharraf!
ARTICLE (August 25 2009): Mystifying, many a time, are the ways of the Almighty! Both His blessings and His thunderbolts can come in ways no one could predict or foresee. Aitzaz Ahsan who stood firm and steadfast, along with his eminent colleagues and thousands of lawyers, throughout the 2-year ordeal faced by the CJP Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and the judiciary and eventually got massive political support for a great cause, made very interesting revelations the other day, about the fateful and somewhat bizarre happenings of March 2007, which had long-term consequences.
According to him, the rejection of the Pakistan Steel Mill privatisation deal by the Supreme Court under CJP Chaudhry, was considered such an affront by the then-PM Shaukat Aziz that it was thought necessary to punish the troublesome CJP. However, President Musharraf had also been chafing at the way the CJP was doggedly pursuing the missing persons' cases and in the process, stepping on toes of recalcitrant high officials who were the President's instruments in making persons disappear.
But the problem was that those officials were merely carrying out Musharraf's orders, who in turn was obeying American diktat and, by self admission, getting paid for surrendering Pakistanis, suspected by them, of involvement in anti-American activities. For these missing persons waited a horrible fate in the torture chambers of Guantanamo Bay.
In fact, the reasons actually given by Musharraf in taking action against the CJP were in the main, centered on the alleged "humiliation" of government officials and other functionaries connected with the "missing persons'" disappearances. Therefore, preparation of a case for moving the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against the CJP (the prescribed procedure) began feverishly.
Soon a pile of documents was generated, which was to be presented to the Council, if need be, as proof of CJP's wrongdoing. Now the preliminary dossier, so put together, contained much garbage and (for the accusers) self-incriminating material, which would have been normally removed before being presented to any forum, had some legal person had had a chance to scrutinise and evaluate them.
The dossier just lay there, unexamined, unevaluated, uncorrected! At this time, as Aitzaz reveals, some one suggested to the all-powerful Army Chief and President: why bother about "referring the case" to the Council, which may take time. Instead, why not just haul up the CJP and ask him to resign, presumably, with a carrot and stick approach. That, the adviser predicted, would solve the "problem" in no time! Not surprisingly, the idea appealed to Musharraf.
After all, who had ever dared to say "no" to him? Had not, at his bidding, Prime Ministers come and Prime Ministers gone, quietly and without fuss, like so many mice? So the CJP was hauled up and in the presence of the PM and top brass, asked to resign or else! And then the unthinkable happened! CJP Chaudhry refused to oblige!
The TV image of Musharraf glaring at the CJP and the CJP defiantly returning that look, lingers in the mind. The formula that had so often worked like magic with many (oh, so many) others, was allegedly tried on the redoubtable CJP. Carrots worth untold amounts, a prestigious and lucrative position in an international jurisprudence body on the one hand and threat of dire consequences on the other, were allegedly held out, directly and later, through intermediaries. But the CJP stood like a rock.
The apple cart was irretrievably upset! Musharraf, the all-powerful President and Army Chief, had a totally new situation on his hands! So confident he had been that no other drop scene to this adventure was possible, except the one he had in mind, that an exit strategy, in case things did not happen as planned, was not built into the plan and no fall back stratagem chalked up before hand.
While the CJP was under virtual arrest at the Army House, another drama was being played out at the Supreme Court premises: a new CJP, justice Javed Iqbal was sworn in and embraced in congratulation by no other than the later PCO CJP Abdul Hameed Dogar. There were now two CJPs in the country! While one was still in office, another had been sworn in! Musharraf was trapped in a cul-de-sac.
This was no ordinary dead end! A panic, high stakes, situation, if ever there was one! It was now imperative that CJP Chaudhry be rendered "dysfunctional" in a hurry. Now, under the circumstances, the only way this could be done under the constitution was to bring serious charges against the CJP and refer his "case" to the Supreme Judicial Council for a decision, pending which the CJP would remain suspended.
As Aitzaz Ahsan describes (though this is not a verbatim recounting) in his cool, dispassionate, objective way, his tone all sweetness and without a trace of rancor, some sycophant or another said: no problem! A case against CJP Chaudhry was already prepared and ready for launch. The "case", on the other hand, was anything but ready!
And so it was that on that fateful occasion in March 2007, a very raw case against an upright, courageous and honest CJP was launched, with documents allegedly full of innuendo (against members of the judiciary) of a less than decent nature and containing other patently contradictory statements, that could be noticed and thrown out with a cursory glance. Such was the dossier, which was thus, submitted to the Supreme Judicial Council, arguably the highest judicial body in the country.
As the drama unfolded, the bulky dossier of supposedly incriminating material was reportedly disowned by legal wizards usually hired at unbelievably high fees with money belonging to the people. Not surprisingly, the SJC threw out the case with a unanimous decision and slapped a hefty fine on the government, which added disgrace to defeat.
This was the one fateful misstep, among others, that eventually paved the way for a less than graceful exit (despite the meaningless pomp and ceremony attending the departure) for the President and Army Chief Musharraf, for eight long years the unchallenged master of the country! Take warning, then, O ye with eyes (to see)! - Al Qur'an (59/2). (owajid@yahoo.com)
The miscalculation which doomed Musharraf!
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