High Treason!
It’s just a coincidence that our final article no 6 happens to be about the article six of the constitution, which says,
High treason.- (1) Any person who abrogates or subverts or suspends
or holds in abeyance, or attempts or conspires to abrogate or subvert or
suspend or hold in abeyance, the Constitution by use of force or show of
force or by any other unconstitutional means shall be guilty of high treason.
(2) Any person aiding or abetting 5[or collaborating] the acts mentioned
in clause (1) shall likewise be guilty of high treason.
6(2A) An act of high treason mentioned in clause (1) or clause (2) shall
not be validated by any court including the Supreme Court and a High Court.
(3) [Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament)] shall by law provide for the
punishment of persons found guilty of high treason.
This article is important to discuss, as it’s this article that hangs over the head of Musharraf and is causing the rift between the government and the Pak Army. The government of Nawaz seems determined to indict the former Army Chief and the military dictator who ousted the government of Nawaz in 1999 and took the power. Strangely Musharraf is not indicted for that committed crime, but is tried for another crime of declaring an emergency in 2007, a far lesser crime than the former one. The move baffles everyone and yet all know why the government insists on singling out Pervaiz Musharraf. The argument is being given that the act of 1999 had been endorsed by the parliament and judiciary of that time and therefore Musharraf cannot be tried for that crime. This argument is just lame, as the amendment granting him the endorsement has been reversed few years back by 19th amendment.
I have always been a staunch opponent of military dictatorship and am for some kind of retribution for those who breached the constitution at any given time, but the more I read this document the more it gets clearer to me that the history of our civil and military relationship is far complicated that it appears at first sight. Sikandar Mirza was the first civilian who declared an emergency. Ayub was the first General to declare a Martial Law, Bhutto was a civilian minister serving in the Ayub’s cabinet. Bhutto challenged the authority of Ayub and came to power, after being groomed in the lap of a dictator. Zia as a General who ousted and killed Bhutto and yet tutored Nawaz for the job of so called civilian government. The story can go on and on, without coming to a happy ending. In order to stay close to the subject, I need to stay focused on article six. Bhutto devised it because he feared the Army Generals. He stupidly believed that by declaring any coup as high treason, he could seal the door from where the Generals emerged as dictators, he forgot that the only way to stop such adventurists from trying their luck, was to strengthen the democratic institutions and educate the people. Bhutto was no less than a civilian dictator all intoxicated by power and therefore he perished in an unnatural manner. The realization about the truth must have been quite bitter to swallow just before he was hanged that a piece of paper is worthless in front of a gun/sword.
After the death of Zia, PPP came to power, but their revenge couldn’t be more than to loot the country and grab as much money as it was possible, so the nation learned the amazing stories of corruption. Zia’s remnants were strong and therefore could go on ruling the country under the leadership of Nawaz with intervals, until NS found his Overman, Musharraf, who kicked Nawaz out of the country in a very humiliating manner. Nawaz has now gotten the chance to even the scores,but the big question remains, would he be able to do that or he is just repeating the history of his failures to complete full terms of his tenure. His relations with the Army are at its lowest and the treason proceedings against Musharraf are becoming a noose for this fatty, pathetic man. Nawaz came to power through unprecedented and historical rigging, is the accusation heard from almost all corners and yet he feels secure enough to not do anything about his reputation or to allow the sitting judiciary to look closer at the allegations and punish those who made it possible. He was given the blessings of powerful local and International actors and in return he promised to enforce the invisible agenda, like to please IMF, World Bank,USA, Serving Indian interests and declaring her as a most favored nation, settling the Kashmir issue on Indian terms….. and so on. I know, I’m drifting away from the subject and need to come back to the relevant issue.
Article six can’t be applied at random and in a discriminating manner. Who is going to decide who is a patriot and who is a traitor? Ayub breached the constitution of 1956, didn’t he deserve to be charged for high treason? Bhutto was a collaborator, so he also was a co-criminal. Zia abrogated the constitution of 73 and for that reason needed to be put before the law to be declared a traitor. Nawaz was a partner of the traitor, so he deserved no mercy either. We can go on with the examples but believe that the message is perceived. No justice to Musharraf can be done, if all the other culprits remain at large. The article six is so vague and yet so broad that thousands of people fall in its sphere. If we start from Ayub’s period all his cabinet members become traitors,all the bureaucracy falls in this category, any generals who supported the coup of 58 become collaborators,all the judges that supported that overthrow did commit a serious crime. All politicians who helped Zia abrogate the constitution, all generals who helped him, all judges who endorsed his subversive action,all civilians who provided him their assistance,all bureaucracy that kept working in lieu of annulment of the constitution, committed a treason. If all these people could get away with their crimes, then why Musharraf is singled out. There were other generals who rebelled long before Musharraf even put his foot back on Pakistani soil,so why doesn’t the government put all of these on treason trial? The lawyers engaged by Musharraf do their best to underline this reality. We shouldn’t forget the role of the politicians who joined hands with the dictators and thus provided them the endorsement and amendments,, all these fall under the article 6. What about the PCO judges, what should be done to these traitors? What about the man who not only legalized the Musharraf’s coup, but also gave him the permission to keep two offices simultaneously? What about the responsibility of the government of 2007, can they be freed from accountability for the actions taken by Musharraf? Last but not least. It’s important to see that there is no punishment suggested for high treason, the authors of this fake document don’t even dare to pronounce about the consequences. The parliament by section 3 is supposed to make law for punishment. What Parliament has the constitution in its mind? The parliament full of illiterate members, coming there with the help of rigged elections and where the speaker of the NA is scared to death for being exposed for rigging,. So much so that he gets a stay order from a pseudo court against the re-count?
It sounds funny that here I stand and plead the case of Musharraf, the man I really hate for the crimes he committed against our nation,but the principles of justice are more holy than my personal feelings. I sincerely believe that a fair trial should be given to all accused of any crime. Here comes our study of constitution to an end for the time being. We conclude that this document is written by dull minds and is full of contradictions and there exists a serious need to revisit it or perhaps it would be better to tear it up and create a new constitution, which is realistic and closer to the aspirations of the people of this country. We need a document that not only speaks of the principles of Equality and Freedoms, but even put these in practice. We know that this is not possible to achieve as long as we have the present breed of idiots in power, they love the status quo and revolution is beyond the capacities of our illiterate masses. So God bless Pakistan!