Before diving into the intricacies of why the Jirga system is so unholy as we are making it to be, I will reiterate that understanding the answer to the fundamental question of why it exists is crucial. So goes the famous saying, “Justice delayed is justice denied.” And so goes the faith of anyone in our judiciary when their requests lay rotten at the Justice’s desk pending for decades screaming to be heard.
I was appalled to see students actively endorsing our constitution, and the idea that our judicial system is the ultimate alternative to the ‘outdated’ Jirga. And since we have been in the act of singling out certain aspects of the Jirga system that do not appeal to us, there are many ugly realities about our constitution that we should be well aware of before we make one point the premise of our arguments.
Okay wait, let us, only for a moment, forget the Jirga which is so terrible because it hinders women’s rights and let us look at ourselves, our very own constitution that we are active proponents of. And let us, not for a moment, forget that it is our judicial system which cowers in front of Mumtaz Qadri. It is also our constitution that declares Ahmedis non-muslims. And it is our judicial system that trembles again at the name of Musharraf. Shahrukh Jatoi, after recklessly getting Shahzeb murdered, also lives without a fear on his head. There are countless other examples of death squads, mafia groups and terror organisations operating under the eye of our judiciary, yet no one dares to point them out, let alone try them.
So when your judicial system is so helpless and weak that no judge has the courage to take up Qadri’s case, you should be left wondering, is that the system you want to endorse and implement? Where the Jirga system has some serious negatives, we cannot base our conclusion solely on those; like we don’t when the 2nd amendment is thrown right at our faces. And even if we do, there are certain cultural divides and opinions that differ starkly with ours and we should understand them. Further, this system has existed for centuries catering to the people’s needs in a way the state never could have.
Finally, the point here is not to defend the Jirga system, but to practically look at the realities. It may be very easy to say that a uniform system must be imposed; but alas, that system itself is severely flawed and it is equally difficult to implement as it is easy to say.
2 comments:
Faraz bro! It is evident from ur writing that none of the two systems are fully credible. Even the U.N and its prestigious International Court of Justice, that we think very high off, are of no avail when it comes to the justice of minorities. Well I am afraid that in reality there is no door left to knock. The Shariah Court, on the other hand, is unacceptable to many as its stereotyped as severe and oppressive.
I frighteningly pose a question that where will we go when a similar situation arises? Will it be The Judiciary? The Jirga? The Shariah Court? Or the puppet organisations as U.N?
Excellent post Faraz. I like how you highlight the hypocrisy of the state's judicial system not to prop up the jirga system per se, but to highlight how difficult and elusive justice really is. This is why we need to invest more into building better structures and systems in our society so that these injustices can be both mitigated and preempted.
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