Growing crisis for Pakistan

The crisis for the Pakistan government continues to heat up as thousands of people took to the streets April 3 in various cities including Karachi to protest the dismissal of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Iftikhar Chaudhry by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who is a close ally of the White House. Chaudhry was ousted from his position on March 9.

Asma Jahangir, a founding member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, gave the following reason for the mass anger over this development: “The process that was adopted to remove [Chaudhry] was not only illegal but politically it was very repressive as well, so people have been shaken up,” she says. “They feel that if the chief justice of Pakistan can be dragged through the streets in this manner—and humiliated and dismissed in that unceremonious way—[then] nobody is safe at the hands of the repression of this government.” (huliq.com)

Coupled with this judicial crisis, Musharraf’s repressive policies, as well as his support for Bush’s so-called war on terror, which includes South Asia, are vehemently opposed by a majority of the Pakistani people.

—Monica Moorehead