Zardari’s Freudian Slip
By Rais Khan
Fremont, CA
“I will decide when to reinstate the ousted judges”, said Mr. Zardari arrogantly. There was a touch of revenge in his tone and tenor. He has not kept his pent-up frustration to his chest that he was not released out of incarceration by the same judges. Little does he appreciate that he was in there not due to political reasons like for his political philosophy or thoughts but purely on corruption charges. Great political personalities, like Mr. Bhutto, Wali Khan, Nawabzada Nasrullah, Mufti Mehmood et al., were never charged with any corrupt practices though they went to jail several times but for their ideologies.
Mr. Zardari cannot fool all the people all the times as he is not the only informed and well-connected person in Pakistan. We all know that the Americans brokered the deal between his spouse and the General in order to save the latter from being toppled over by the political forces, reference The New York Times dated Oct. 20, 2007. How can a person at the dependency level like Mr. Zardari talk so high of reinstating the judges who are a potential threat to the continuity of the General? Mr. Zardari would be well advised to appreciate his niche and refrain from talking above his shoulders.
If the fate of the Honorable Judges of the superior courts is tied to the whims of a person who shares with Raul Salina’s brother of former Mexican President the unique distinction of the nickname of “Mr. Ten Percent” then the only logical and rational course open to them would be to retire honorably. Every conscientious Pakistani would not like the superior judiciary to be treated contemptuously by the sleaze-accused of yesteryear.
Pakistan is on its way to resemble a town that the veteran politician and poet Ajmal Khattak described in his Pashto hymn in the following words:
Where the rain of divine curse has befallen,
Where the vicious vouches for the virtuous,
Where the law flows through the barrel of a gun,
That’s my town, that’s your town.
Where the poor is expelled from the town,
Where the jawbreakers win all the laurels,
Where the live is dumped into the grave,
That’s my town, that’s your town.
And where the criminals hold the sway,
That’s my kalay, that’s your kalay.
(Kalay in Pashto means a village or town)
