It is a constitutional battle that has been won across the border. In a landmark decision, a special court in Pakistan, held former President Pervez Musharraf guilty of high treason, sentencing him to death for subverting the Constitution by declaring an emergency rule.
The verdict, which was split 2-1 in favour of the conviction, has created history. This is the first time that a former chief of the army has been held guilty of treason. For a country, where the military is considered the invisible force behind the government, the verdict—which bats for the civilian government over the army—has set a precedent.
As Bilawal Bhutto—who blames the military dictator for his mother Benazir Bhutto’s death—tweeted, “Democracy is the best revenge. Jiye Bhutto’’, with a photo of his mother addressing a crowd, it is the optics that matters. And in a country where the civil military dynamics is always firmly balanced in favour of the fauj, the verdict does offer—even if it is on paper—a balance between different institutions of the state.
Coming soon after the clash between the government and the Supreme Court over army chief general Qamar Bajwa’s tenure extension last month, the order of the special court does suggest that the judiciary in Pakistan is forging an independent path. Or is it?
“It is an effort by the judiciary to display new found judicial independence,’’ says Rana Banerji, a security analyst. “But it doesn’t mean much, as it is non-enforceable. It comes even as Chief Justice Khosa has provided for an easy way out for beleaguered Imran Khan government on the Bajwa extension issue by term regulation by a simple majority law change.”
On November 26, the Supreme Court had suspended the three-year extension given to Bajwa by Khan due to irregularity in the manner it was done. Bajwa was due to retire in two days. After three days of heightened tensions, the apex court finally relented extending the tenure for six months, in which the government was to bring in a legislation for the extension.
The Musharraf verdict likely to meet the same fate: it will be a symbolic win. The Imran Khan government is likely to appeal the verdict and the death sentence will remain only on paper. Musharraf has already prepared grounds—in a video message released last month from a hospital bed—he alleged that he was being “victimised”. A statement issued by his party, All Pakistan Muslim League, described the verdict as “appalling’’ and the trial “unconstitutional’’. “We would like to remind that this case was formed on flimsy grounds,’’ the statement read.
The battle is far from over.
