Noted Muslim historian and philosopher, Ibn Khaldun generously admired Aristotle. Khaldun acknowledged the great idea of the state articulated by Aristotle in his book The Politics; Aristotle theorized the idea of a great state, comparing the world with a beautiful garden. According to him this garden is managed by the state through its king, ministers, and counselors. The state has a strong army which ensures the security of the state. Next important stakeholders are the farmers and people who toil to feed the country, thereby contributing to the overall progress and prosperity of the state. Aristotle asserts: this can happen only when there is a benign shadow of the justice on people, ensuring that their rights are protected; their life, property and honor is secured. On the top of it, there is a fair justice system ensure that there is rule of law and no authority cannot even think to challenge or transgress it.
Seen through Aristotelian Model, of all organs of the state, justice system plays the most significant part which keeps an eye on all institutions so that they may keep on functioning in their designated domains only. Imam Ghazali, another great thinker iterated the need to do justice. He would often reiterate that only just one command of Allah, i.e. Ahdelu, do justice, is sufficient to successfully govern the entire system of the universe.
Studying the principle govern any state successfully, we learn that the spiritual leader of Amir Timur, Syed Hussain, guided him that the rule in the world needs to be based on model of Allah’s rule which is primarily based on relentless justice. Syed warned him that if this system is disrupted, then your empire would shake off and crumble eventually. The saint explicitly asked Timur that while doing justice, his harem (family), ministers, counselors, generals and all other influential figures must not be spared. If done so, his empire would never face any problem. Following the principles taught to him by his spiritual leader, Amir Timur ruled the biggest empire in the world.
Keeping in view this historical backdrop, we learn our country is plagued with myriad of problems. The economy of Pakistan is in total disarray, with no local and foreign investment amid acute political chaos and gross instability in the country. Nations fight back internal problems and foreign enemies, when people and its security forces forge a nexus grounded in trust and faith. Sadly, this much needed bonding stands badly fractured, which largely owes to total absence of visionary and farsighted leadership in civilian and armed quarters. This absence of leadership and internal bedlam have given ample opportunity to ever ready enemies of Pakistan to exploit the precarious situation to their advantage.
When we refer to the Seeing, Aristotelian ideology, we see that benign shadow of justice in Pakistan is worn out and ranks 134/140 in the world. It seems as though the justice system is totally crippled which took decades to reach this abysmal level. Unsurprisingly, thousands rot in the courts in a weary quest of justice and return empty handed, utterly dismayed. Subsequently, many resort to take the law in their own hands, thereby deepening the chaos in the society. Scores of such incidents are reported where the aggrieved parties kill the accused in the court premises, believing that courts would not dispense justice.
In today’s Pakistan, the justice system is under immense pressure of an unprecedented level when the government and other powerful quarters have openly started openly defying and flouting the court orders even of the Higher Courts and the Apex Court. The government minister have abused the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the parliament and nakedly threatened the judges, holding a protest in front of the SC. These incidents have threatened the already fragile and vulnerable justice system, eroding the trust of people.
Amidst this chaos, the farmers, who feed the masses, are facing acute shortage of resources to manage farming, owing to extremely high inflation. To make the situation worse, plenty of fertile land has been occupied by sugar cane mafia and land mafia — which is fast converting the land into housing societies.
The sad incidents of 9 May and the state response in the aftermath sent the tremors across the country and the global community also saw all developments in deep awe and concern. These incidents must be thoroughly investigated and perpetrators desalt with law. But, using such incidents to corner certain political figures and supporters would defeat the spirit of law. This would deepen the crisis further, which Pakistan cannot afford any more.
Can we come out of the acutest crisis after 1971, we have been terribly strangled in? There is always a solution if there is an honest resolve, political acumen and sincerity which the civ-mil leadership must demonstrate. The judiciary must rise to the occasion and dispense justice, without any favor or fear. The civ-mil elite must sacrifice their perks this time to support the failing economy to save from complete doom. Very importantly, there is an urgent need to mend the fractured trust between masses and state institutions, which stands battered and badly bruised. Reconciliation, not revenge is the call of the day to save the fast sinking ship.
No doubt, the crisis is deep, shadows are darker, but emulating the golden principles of Aristotle, Imam Ghazali and Syed Hussain, Pakistan can rise. Are political leaders and the captain ready to take the first step and march forward?
