The biggest thorn in the royal hiney is back and wants blood.
Known for his outspoken views and fierce opposition to the general in command, he has been in and out of jail several times since Musharraf took control. A pliant judiciary sent him on 19 years term, three years ago. His appeal in LHC kept getting delayed and he eventually moved the SC for bail. Govt. tried to prolong the proceedings by asking for one month’s adjournment. SC denied. And set Friday as the final day of the case. And today, the SC announced he is a free man.*
*: He won’t actually be free till tomorrow morning because of legal formalities.
“If loyalty to Pakistan’s land is mutiny,](http://www.dukandar.com/baaghihoon.html) then I accept that I am a rebel since birth,” he had told the court. “Though the charges of mutiny have been levelled against me for the first time, but in a land where the 1857 War of Independence was dubbed mutiny and where the freedom fighters had been termed traitors, I am proud to be in the same league of rebels,” Mr Hashmi said in the final statement which has been re-produced in the book.
Mr Hashmi has divided the book into five parts. In the first part, he has narrated his political career in the form of a short autobiography. The second part contains events between October 12, 1999 - the military take-over by Gen Pervez Musharraf - and November 2004. The third part deals with the trial, while the fourth part includes extracts from his speeches delivered in the National Assembly during the past 20 years. The last part includes images of all the documents produced before the court by Mr Hashmi.
The book also includes a historic quote of Mr Hashmi from his speech in the National Assembly delivered on June 6, 1985. “The time has come, Mr Speaker, that we should say, Mr Martial Law, attention, about-turn, quick march, go back to your barracks and never come again.” - Amir Wasim for Dawn, 8th February, 2005
Salary of SC judges has just been increased as well. :)
In the larger context, it's business as usual. But in the context of the judicial crisis, it might have some angle. Regardless, it'd be pretty stupid to think this raise will have any impact on the SC.
