Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan Has Belittled
Himself
17 Feb 2012By Saeed Qureshi
By pleading for wrong persons and for wrong causes,
the distinguished icon of Pakistan's bar, barrister
Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan has belittled himself. By
choosing to bail out shady characters, he has eclipsed
his fame that he justifiably earned during the
movement for reinstatement of the deposed senior
judges.
It is difficult to fathom as to what motivated him to
defend the incumbent president and prime minister of
Pakistan despite a deluge of allegations of Tsunami
proportion swelling against them and at a time when
the whole country is awash with their stories of
flabbergasting corruption.
If it is a question of going by the book of law then
any sane person would oppose NRO and its felonious
beneficiaries for its being an instrument of exigency
and sordid quid pro quo between the parties
befittingly to be labeled as the "Pirates of
Caribbean". Till the time the honorable Prime Minister
Gilani was not saddled in the prime ministerial chair,
he was enjoying a saving grace despite burdened with a
heavy backlog of past discrepancies that he committed
and for which he was jailed for a few years.
But as the adage goes, the old habits die hard; he
went into a replay action with a vengeance. In tandem
with his close kith, friends, ministers and cohorts,
he misused his authority in such a big way as to pale
his past misdoings. His son is implicated in money
making scandals of Himalayan scale as well; one of
which is the Haj scandal.
Aitzaz Ahsan is decorated with several feathers on his
hat of achievements, which can be rated as
outstanding. He enjoyed an enviable and most
praiseworthy distinction of defending two prime
ministers in the court of law: Benazir Bhutto in 2001
and later Nawaz Sharif.
He was the leading member of the panel of lawyers
named as the ‘dream team' that robustly contested
before a full court, headed by Justice
Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday, the suspension of chief
Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry ordered by the then
president Pervez Musharraf. As a result of their
valiant defense, the Chief Justice Chaudhry was
released by a panel of 13 judges.
Despite announcement by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza
Gilani in 2008 to release house-arrested chief justice
Iftikhar Chaudhry, the decision was not carried out at
the behest of upcoming President Asif Ali Zardari.
Zardari feared the chief justice would repeal the
amnesty given under the dubious NRO. That led to a
massive countrywide protest movement in which
Barrister Aitzaz played a prominent role.
That lawyers' movement was also joined by Former Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif and his party Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz (PML-N). Nawaz Sharif spearheaded a kind
of long march from eastern city of Lahore to Islamabad
after defying a detention order issued by the local
administration. As a result of the coordinated
campaigning by both lawyers and politicians, chief
justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, along with several other
senior justices and judges, was reinstated on March
22, 2009.
This background glimpse of Aitzaz Ahsan was given to
emphasize the vital and indeed the historic role of
this distinguished member of bar in fighting for the
legitimate and worthy causes. But of late, his
decision to stand by the tormentors of judiciary and
perpetrators of nauseating scams of corruption and to
defend individuals whose past and present is checkered
with greed, self indulgence, nepotism; has whipped
widespread outrage and disapproval.
The stalwarts of the present government have an
unbeaten notoriety for bad and inept governance, and
for shameful obsession to enhance their personal and
family fortunes while neglecting the pressing and
grinding myriad problems of the people of Pakistan.
Out of a litany of corruption scandals, the Hajj
Scandal of Abdul Qadir Gilani, Son of Yousaf Raza
Gilani is a huge case of corruption that has not only
tarred the reputation of prime minister but also of
his family. The Khurram Rasool's mega case of
commission and graft, a one time associate and media
advisor of prime minister, has also been brought
before court for trial.
Every minister of the present government in Pakistan
is involved in some case of bribe, grafts, kickbacks
and instrumental in debilitating the national
institutions such as railways, the steel mills and
power generation. There is a long list of sleazy scams
that underscore the ruling cabal's insatiable lust and
undying propensity for making their fortunes and
enriching themselves by any conceivable mean. These
leaders are exposed to a whole minefield of complex
moral and legal issues.
The prime minister has dithered on complying with the
orders of the Supreme Court to write letter to the
Swiss authorities for reopening the money laundering
cases against Asif Ali Zardari. They are chips of the
same bloc and therefore scratching each other's back.
The government-judiciary standoff has jammed the whole
country and there is not a semblance of any
willingness on the part of the government to set the
things in order. The soaring poverty, the
dysfunctional power sector, the broken law and order
and hyping unemployment among other grave problems,
are driving the people crazy and they are seized with
utter helplessness in the face of an appalling drift
and decline.
Was it the lucrative offer to become a senator, or a
hefty remuneration for fighting the case or some other
irresistible perk that prompted this Goliath of the
bar to stand on the side of the felons and crooks? Was
it the bait for a ministerial post or offer of
governorship that changed the honest mind of this
outstanding lawyer with an impeccable reputation?
Otherwise how could this lofty lawyer consent to
rescue the besmirched individuals from a predicament
that they invited by themselves! Their odorous hands
cannot be sweetened even if these are washed and
sanctified by all the "perfumes of Arabia?"
Reputation and good name is earned the hard way and
over a prolonged period of time. But smear is always
lurking and comes readily and that is what barrister
Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan is faced with presently.
©
EsinIslam.Com
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