I guess this filtering would go on..here is my post on F R Khan board.

An Unexpected Birthday Gift on March 20, 2007

#25 by fuzair

“which element in the Army was trying to stage the palace-coup? Presumably the pro-US faction?”

No Fuzair, it has to be the Jammat Islami group in the army. CJ Sajjad is a long story and I would refer you to the wiki link for more details but it was clear that Sajjad was someone’s proxy. Here is a little something for you “A 3 member bench headed by Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah suspended the operation of the Thirteenth Amendment restoring the powers of the president to dissolve the National Assembly, a verdict which was within minutes set aside by another 10-member bench.The 10-member bench headed by Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui granted stay against the chief justice’s order minutes after it was passed, even without receiving any formal petition or the copy of the order..”
Please read more details here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sajjad_Ali_Shah

Why the army did not protect him? It was a little beyond the army after Nawaz henchmen had already taken him out from the SC. The question was how far the army could go and the way the situation was at that time, Army had no choice but to back down. Interesting part is that I don’t recall any major protests by the lying Lawyers after what took place in SC on that fateful day. If I am not wrong, Karamat too was dispatched out of the army house soon after by Nawaz, probably the only act of bravery by a Pakistani politician. Even the Grand Master Bhutto told his daughter to never confront the army and she is still faithfully following her father’s deathbed advice.

Pakistan politics is army’s politics and you underestimate the army if you are not able to grasp the iron grip army had over Pakistani politics. So expecting that a CJ was acting on his own in the interest of Justice is simplistic. All movers and shakers in Pakistan move and shake after they get cues from the army.

All pointers suggest that it was the Jammat/Taliban group in the army that was behind the CJ. First, the Jamaat went on protesting about the missing Jihadis and terrorists and then the CJ comes out and interferes in a political issue on behalf of Jamaat and in support of jihadis. Why? He could have possibly asked the law enforcement to help find the missing Jihadi but he tried to take over the whole process. He acted unconstitutionally.

Personally, if this whole drama results in the weakening of the army I am all for it. Any political movement in Pakistan that pushes the army back should be welcomed but until and unless smaller provinces take part in a political movement, Pakistan will not see democracy or constitutional rule. It is quiet obvious now that mushy has to go and temporarily, we may see some civilian take over but eventually it will again be the Army running the show.


It is show time in Pakistan. Faces and actors may change, the macabre drama never changes.