Being Musharraf

On Friday, President Musharraf effectively terminated the services of the serving Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary by placing him under 'house arrest' and referring his case to the Supreme Judicial Council on charges that have thus far not been revealed. Of course, giving credit where it is due, this extreme step was taken only after the President had 'asked' the CJP to resign - presumably for the same charges that will be now form the basis of his hearing on March 13 by the Supreme Judicial Council. Thus while the CJP of Pakistan languishes alone in his residence without any visitors and completely isolated from the outside world, Islamabad appointed an acting CJ in the form of Justice Javed Iqbal who superceded Justice Bhagwan Das to the post (incidentally Bhagwan Das, a Hindu, was out of the country during this dramatic turn of events).

These recent events have made Pakistan a very compelling case study even for a casual observer of Islamabad's political upheavals. While a number of reasons have been ascribed to this sudden turn of events, a wonderful summary of which can be read here, I have my own reasons and summations for the same.

There are a number of theories floating around regarding the dismissal of the Chief Justice and in my personal opinion these theories cannot, singularly or collectively, explain the actions taken for the simple reason that no one knows what prompted the General himself to take action. The perceived 'independence' of the Chief Justice in rendering judgements on issues as diverse as the missing persons case, asking for clarifications from intelligence agencies, cancelling the privatisation of the Pakistan Steel Mills, adjudicating on the educational qualifications of the MMA leaders, so on and so forth actually represented feathers in President Musharraf's cap as it was possibly the only institution which appeared to be democratic and an effective platform for redressal of grievances in an otherwise lawless Pakistan. This independence of the CJP might have been alarmed the President but certainly not compelled him to take action. I say this because when power is absolute, reasons such as the above, cannot be causal factors per se.

I do believe that there is more to what meets the eye in this case. A study of the recent political events highlight growing concerns over the efficacy of President Musharraf as the ruler of Pakistan by both domestic and foreign concerns. No longer the 'to go' guy of the US and unable to ensure his continued presence at the helm of Pakistani affairs (the deal with the PPPP is yet to be finalised) could have prompted President Musharraf to underline his absolute authority in this drastic fashion. After all who else could he have targeted to achieve this goal - the main opposition leaders are in exile abroad and the CJP was the only remaining constitutional authority relevat enough to challenge the writ of Musharraf. With this understanding the dismissal of the CJP was merely the means to an end and not an end in itself.

Then again, and as any ardent observer of President Musharraf's would attest, his style of functioning relies on the element of surprise more than anything else. Nothing and no one could have anticipated the way in which the Chief Justice of Pakistan was swiftly dismissed. Catching his detractors offguard with the sheer audacity of his act allows Musharraf to work around his critics and re-establish his authority. This he achieves whilst his detractors are left second guessing the fallacy of their assessment of the General's sway on Pakistani polity and military.

While the events do portend a bleak future for Pakistan they also show that politics in Pakistan begin and end with Musharraf. The Chief Justice unfortunately happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. What happens now in Pakistan will reflect the polity one can expect for the coming decade.

Other interesting articles on Musharraf and the dismissal saga can be read here and here.