Legal Bugle
The night of February 13 saw another episode in Pakistans judicial crisis. A reshuffle of superior judges by the countrys political leadership sparked an uproar. Once again,Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry locked horns with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) when a notification was issued to replace Lahore High Court chief justice Khwaja Sharif with another senior judge,Saqib Nisar and transfer Sharif to the Supreme Court.
A day after,The News added: As tensions between the executive and the judiciary resurfaced,Nawaz Sharif called on the president to withdraw orders on the appointment of judges,and said Asif Ali Zardari is the biggest threat to democracy. Dawn reported an interesting side to the drama on February 17: PM Yousaf Raza Gilani surprised many when he reached the Supreme Court uninvited to attend a reception hosted by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry in honour of Justice (retd) Khalilur Rehman Ramday,who retired on January 12. In what appeared an attempt at defusing tension,Gilani said: I have always maintained there is no misunderstanding between us,but when it did not work I had to come myself to prove this.
Big Fish
Confusion surrounded the news of Taliban deputy chief Mullah Baradars reported arrest in Karachi on February 15. Dawn quoted interior minister Rehman Malik as denying the news as reported by The New York Times: Malik branded as propaganda reports that the top Taliban military commander had been arrested in a joint Pakistani-US spy operation… The cabinet minister stopped short of either confirming or denying the media reports… We are verifying all those we have arrested. If there is any big target,I will show the nation, Malik said. If The New York Times gives information,it is not a divine truth,it can be wrong. We have joint intelligence sharing and no joint investigation,nor joint raids. Explaining this was Dawns editorial on February 18: Although news of his capture broke only two days ago,it is believed Mullah Baradar has been in custody for more than a week. This brief delay in publicly acknowledging his arrest is wholly in keeping with the demands of intelligence-gathering,especially where militant groups are concerned. Keeping his capture secret may have given interrogators time to extract information about the Taliban network without alerting other leaders,particularly Mullah Omar,who could be lying low in Pakistan or across the Durand Line. The News,confirming Baradars arrest on February 17,said that intelligence sources in Islamabad said he was hiding in Karachi because the Taliban now consider it the safest hiding place in Pakistan,where they do not attract the attention of the Pakistani and American intelligence agencies by keeping a low profile.
