Opinion Axing the beneficiaries

PM Gilani,reported The News,warned: “If something happens,we would not be alone to go home. Keep in mind,then all would go home and this is something no one would like to see happening in the given situation.” He did not explain what he meant by “all”.

Dawn reported on September 28: “Having braced itself for fireworks on Monday,the nation was greeted by a quiet and undramatic denouement by the afternoon. President Zardari,PM Gilani and army chief Ashfaq Kayani met at the presidency in the afternoon while the Supreme Court announced its decision to give the government time it had asked for and adjourned till October 13 the hearing of a case relating to implementation of its judgment on the NRO.” This effectively pulled both the judiciary and the PPP-led government back from the brink of a high-powered confrontation.

Dawn added on September 29 that PM Gilani said his government would take a public stand on the demand to reopen the Swiss cases involving President Zardari after October 13.

Standing with Aafia

Pakistan saw a groundswell of political and public support for Dr Aafia Siddiqui this week. Siddiqui is a Pakistani neuroscientist who has been in American custody on charges of conspiring against the US. She was sentenced to 86 years in prison last week.

The News reported on September 27: “Pervez Musharraf called the mother of Dr Aafia Siddiqui three times recently to clarify his position but she never spoke to him and finally Musharraf sent his old comrade Rashid Qureshi to meet her in Karachi. Qureshi tried to prove Musharraf was not directly responsible for the disappearance of Aafia in 2003 but failed to convince the family of Aafia and even exchanged hot arguments with the sister of Aafia and other people present there. There is a general impression in Pakistan that Pervez Musharraf actually handed over Dr Aafia to US authorities… He even admitted in his book… that he handed over 369 people to the US and earned millions of dollars from the CIA …” Dawn added on September 28: “It was only a short,silent march by the National Assembly members… though ruling alliance also joined the opposition-called protest over last week’s sentence for Dr Aafia Siddiqui.” The News reported on September 30: “MQM chief Altaf Hussain has demanded the conviction of Dr Aafia Siddiqui be declared null and void .”

View from Pakistan

The Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title suit verdict was awaited not only in India but in Pakistan too. The News on October 1 carried an article by political commentator Harris Khalique,who observed: “On September 30,the court has come out with a balanced and futuristic judgement by dividing the land. A mosque,a temple and a memorial can be built adjacent to each other. Indian politicians must move on if they are interested in a peaceful and prosperous future.” Dawn’s editorial stated: “Though what happened in 1992 is inexcusable,perhaps the verdict will be viewed as pragmatic if it soothes communal passions and ensures such ugly incidents do not happen again.”

Daily Times carried a series of comments by various religious and political parties. The verdict was termed by them as: “a terrible miscarriage of justice; politicised judgment (which) relied on myth; biased,prejudicial,unjust and (in) violation of human rights; more political than legal; the court had tried to appease all; to wait and see as the aggrieved party has the right to appeal; it would not be fair to pass a judgment on the judicial system of some other country.”