The Hero Who Became a Villain
By Dr Asif Javed
Williamsport, PA
Life is unpredictable. It has ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies, successes and failures. Hardly anyone is spared. But there are some who get more than their fair share. And then there is an odd case which really stands out. It is one such case that we will look at in this piece.
Just to clarify, this is not about late Aslam Pervaiz who had made a remarkably smooth transition from hero to villain back in the 60s. No sir, our hero has nothing to do with filmdom. He was the real hero of the masses in the sixth largest country in the world just a few years ago.
Let us turn back the clock and go to year 2007: Our hero is being driven in a vehicle from Islamabad to Lahore. His driver is none else than Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan. There are adoring crowds, emotional speeches, rose petals and garlands. Imagine the euphoria! ZAB had taken the same route, by train, back in 1966. Having been dismissed from cabinet, ZAB, ever the shrewd politician, wanted to find out whether the nation was ready to get rid of Ayub. Our hero, too, has been dismissed by Musharaf. Like Ayub, Musharaf too has been in power for almost a decade. Our hero appears to many, this scribe included, to have become a symbol of defiance and resistance to the dictator. As his cavalcade enters Lahore, there is a massive crowd waiting for him.
A few weeks later, our hero makes a triumphant entry into New York. In USA, he is accorded the treatment befitting a hero. He addresses several elite gatherings of lawyers. He is given 'Medal of Freedom' from the Harvard Law School that had previously been given to Nelson Mendela. There are several other accolades. He is seen as the symbol of independent judiciary who has stood up to a dictator. There are several speeches in the gatherings of expatriate Pakistanis in New York and Washington DC area. Wherever he goes, he is received well and is looked at as the potential savior of Quaid-i-Azam’s Pakistan.
Musharaf is eventually forced out and our hero is restored to his former position--the highest one in the judiciary of Pakistan.
Now fast forward to year 2014: Our hero has retired and is carefully weighing his options. He announces the formation of a new political party. He sees in himself another ZAB. Naturally, he expects the masses to flock to his banner. But the response to the announcement of the party gives him a rude shock—it’s a non-starter. Hardly anyone takes notice. Bewildered, he reconsiders his strategy. He thinks he has found out where has he gone wrong. He then decides to begin a mass contact campaign from Daska, a provincial town near Sialkot.
He has chosen this occasion carefully. A few days earlier, there has been a high-profile murder of two lawyers in Daska by a local police officer. There is palpable tension in town; emotions are running high. Our hero has done his homework. This time, he is really going to do things exactly right. His unannounced appearance at the funeral prayer will re-energize his supporters. Perhaps he remembers how ZAB had used the killing by police of Abdul Hamid, a student at Rawalpindi Polytechnic, to his political advantage. But just to be doubly sure, he calls a local lawyer, one of his former supporters, for advice. What our hero hears back is shocking, an eye opener: He is told that he better stay away; there is so much resentment against him in the legal profession that there is a serious risk of humiliation, verbal as well as physical. He is aware of the physical abuse of Sher Afgan Niazi, a federal minister, by lawyers in Lahore. Poor Niazi had escaped with his life, but just barely. Our hero is advised to stay away from public gatherings in general, and the lawyers in particular. He is puzzled. He cannot believe his ears. Lawyers, his powerbase, have forsaken him! How can that be? Slowly, the painful reality begins to dawn upon him that his time has already come and gone. The illusions of greatness and aspirations of national leadership are ebbing away.
Several people had jumped on our hero's bandwagon: One was Ali Ahmad Kurd, a lawyer from Quetta. A firebrand orator, but a brief-less lawyer, Mr Kurd thoroughly enjoyed his time in the public eye. He has been forgotten since. As for Aitzaz Ahsan, an insider reported to this scribe recently how the renowned lawyer is being embarrassed about his support to our hero. It is doubtful if Mr Ahsan considers his time with this man his finest hour.
A recent news about a certain Dr Amjad has brought back the unpleasant memories of our hero to surface again. Mr Amjad, a property tycoon, was the father-in-law of our hero's daughter. There are press reports that Dr Amjad was in the middle of plea bargain (reportedly worth billions of rupees) with NAB recently. His son, Murtaza Amjad, our hero's son-in-law, reportedly a fugitive from law, is living in Canada, enjoying presumably a lavish lifestyle. There are rumors that Dr Amjad's son escaped from the clutches of law with the help of--you guessed it--our hero! Dr Amjad himself was the son-in-law of Ch Sardar, former IG Punjab Police. Ch Sardar rose from a humble background to the top of his profession. An upright man and a clean career officer, who died several years ago, now finds his good name linked to men of vulgar notoriety; such is life.
Several years ago, a civil servant posted in Sialkot, reported the following to this scribe: The sitting CJ of Pakistan Supreme Court had visited Head Murala, a picnic spot, near Sialkot. His family in tow, CJ demanded privileges and perks beyond the ones which were available, or he was entitled too. His behavior to the local law enforcement and district administration was unprofessional and unpleasant. This was only months before Naeem Bokhari Advocate's letter addressed to the same CJ was made public. The allegations in that letter appeared serious, embarrassing, and hard to believe. With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that most, if not all, were legitimate. These included several charges of corruption, nepotism and mis-behavior. The details of how this man allegedly manipulated and influenced the system to his son's advantage, with flagrant disregard of rules and regulations, are mind boggling. The son who had failed the CSS English exam securing 16 out of 100 marks, and was often seen driving a BMW 7 Series, in turn, used his father's position for enormous illegal monetary gains. The details are beyond the scope of this article. The interested readers are referred to Naeem Bokhari's letter and the statement by Malik Riaz (a property tycoon of Bahrya Town fame) of several years ago. Gen. Musharraf was right to ask for our hero's resignation. Unfortunately, the nation got carried away and joined Aitzaz Ahsans and Ali Ahmad Kurds--the rest is history.
A news item several months ago was another reminder, as if one was needed, that our former hero has not quite reconciled to retired life. It was reported that the authorities were having difficulty retrieving the bullet-proof vehicle that he was entitled to while in office. Good luck with that!
So dear readers, just analyze this: This man once occupied the highest office of judiciary in Pakistan, the same office that was once the abode of A.R. Carnelius, Hammod-ur-Rahman and the like. We had judges like Rustam Kiani and K.M. Samdant who were competent, fearless and had integrity. Our judiciary had its ups and downs over the years but it is hard to imagine it sinking down any lower than it did in our hero's time. Quaid-i-Azam (QA )must be turning in his grave.
What is our former hero's legacy: For one, it is lawyers' rowdy behavior. QA was a lawyer as was Allama Iqbal. QA was a man of iron discipline. There are several reports of QA reprimanding those who were ill-disciplined. Unity, faith and discipline was QA's motto for our nation. While the nation as a whole has deteriorated over the years, the lawyers, QA's own profession, have been out of control since the so-called JusticeMovement began. This has recently introduced a new term in the Urdu literature-wokalagardi. Rhyme that with ghundagardi. His other legacy is judicial activism. He continued his never-ending suo motos and seemed to enjoy the public humiliation of senior civil servants. His arrogant, demeaning and humiliating behavior in the court room had made some members of the Supreme Court Bar describe his court room a Boochar Khana and Media Circus. His unfortunate decision to stop the Karachi Steel Mill privatization has cost the national treasury billions of rupees, some say.
So, what is our former national hero up to these days: He is lying low. But what other choice does he really have? Having become a pariah in his own country, the discredited jurist, despised by most, cannot take the risk of going to any public place. If he did, he is bound to be ridiculed since he will be easily recognized and his exploits are known to the general public. We Pakistanis are a very unforgiving lot as the Sharif clan continues to discover in London. If the media reports are to be believed, our hero was nowhere to be seen near the funeral of recently deceased Dr Amjad who was buried unceremoniously with hardly any family members around. A tarnished image must be haunting him. The thoughts of what might have been likely swirl around. His only consolation is ill gotten money--his son has allegedly lots of it. But, perhaps, one day, he will belatedly realize that even a lot of money is a poor substitute for being a real hero. As for now, he is a bona fide villain, a man of ruthless, naked ambition who sought cheap publicity and personal aggrandizement. In the process, he has become a living example of Dekho mujhe jo deeda-e-ibrat nigah ho.
Our "Nelson Mendela" and Dr Amjads of this world would have been well advised to read Josh Milihabadi's Yadoon Ki Baraat. In his autoAutobiography, the eminent poet has summed it up eloquently: "O Allah, spare me the excess as well as the scarcity of wealth, since both are detrimental to humanity." Even better, they can enlighten themselves by reading Surah At-Takathur in which our sustainer has warned us:
You are obsessed by greed for more and more until you go down to your graves. Nay, in time you will come to understand! ... and on that day, you will most surely be called to account for (what you did with) the boon of life!
References : Yadoon Ki Baraat by Josh Malihabadi; The Message of The Quran by Muhammad Asad; Javed Ch. Column from Express newspaper; Jaiza by Justice Samdani; The Justice Movement by Asghar Abdulah
(The writer is a physician in Williamsport, PA and may be reached at asifjaved@comcast.net)
