Imran Khan’s U-turn on case against Justice Isa
FORMER Prime Minister Imran Khan has proved himself to be the master of U-turns once again.
He has now admitted his great blunder and vindictive action by admitting that filing a case against the Supreme Court Judge Qazi Faez Isa was a terrible mistake and a political blunder.
During a meeting with his supporters in the legal profession called the Insaf Lawyers forum he finally admitted his mistake thus chalking up another great U-turn or a real summersault this time to the long list of such U-turns he has taken during his long innings in politics and about three and a half years as the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Imran Khan had collected his legal supporters to ask for help and support in the present political crisis of his own creation and to devise a policy for helping the PTI media activists who were being harassed by the law enforcement agencies for their violent campaign against the judiciary and the army.
Interestingly enough the proponent of the utopian dream of Riasat-i-Madina after being ousted from power has now come to his senses and admitted openly to the gathering of his lawyer friends that filing a reference against Faez Isa was a monumental blunder and it was done because his advisors had misguided him and he was not interested in pursuing the case for many years now.
It has also been revealed that the former Attorney General of the Imran government had convinced Imran Khan that Faez Isa is an honest and upright judge and he had been misled in this case.
This admission by the master of U-turns once again proves the immaturity and non-seriousness of the former Prime Minister.
Imran Khan should also now apologize for all the agony, pain and heart break he has caused to the family of Justice Isa.
By this frivolous and vindictive action Imran Khan brought into question the integrity honesty and the unblemished record of Faez Isa.
His reputation and honesty was put in question causing extreme worry to his wife and children.
Before ordering such actions he should have at least looked at the family record of Faez Isa.
And as the chief executive of the country Imran Khan cannot be absolved from this painful action because the reference was filed on his orders.
Somebody should have informed the PM that Qazi Faez Isa is the son of the late Qazi Mohd.
Isa of Pishin who was in the vanguard of the Pakistan Movement and a very close associate of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
His father was a member of the Central Working Committee of the All India Muslim League and responsible for leading the freedom movement in Baluchistan.
His mother Begum Sadia Isa was a renowned social worker and provided yeoman services in an honorary capacity on the Boards of Hospitals and some charitable organizations focusing on education, children and women’s health issues.
Imran Khan government had conspired to remove him from the Supreme Court to prevent his elevation to the post of Chief Justice of Pakistan for which he becomes eligible in 2024 on sheer merit and seniority.
This wrong and vindictive action initiated by Imran Khan was due to the very just and honest judgment by Faez Isa on the 2019 Faizabad Dharna by the religious fanatics of the TLP that had the support of the PTI and Imran Khan.
The government of PTI attempted to blackmail, harass and intimidate an honest and upright judge of the highest court of the country and this amounted to an assault on the entire judiciary of the country.
Just Isa fought tooth and nail against the unjust and vindictive attack by the PTI government and finally he was exonerated from any illegal act or the charge of corruption.
Justice Isa while presenting his arguments before the Supreme Court had promised to fight “Till the last drop of blood” to prove his innocence and remove this blemish on the name of his illustrious family.
The entire case fabricated against Faez Isa at the behest of Imran Khan was nothing but a mala fide conspiracy to punish him for his judgment against the fanatics of the TLP led by Khadim Rizvi in which he had also exposed some elements of the deep state.
Faez Isa came in the line of fire for giving a verdict that warned some intelligence agencies and the military high command not to exceed their mandate by meddling in politics.
Justice Faez Isa and Justice Mushir Alim in their historical decision had said “The involvement of ISI and other members of the defence forces in politics, media and other unlawful activities should have stopped” Today Justice Qazi Faez Isa stands vindicated and in spite of all the efforts of the Imran Khan regime nothing could be proved against him.
Just an apology from Imran Khan will not suffice Faez Isa should take the Imran government to task and initiate legal proceedings against them for all the pain and agony caused to him, his wife and children.
—The writer is Professor of History, based in Islamabad.
