Running from reality

IN supreme disregard of the grave economic and security situation in the country, the government continues to adamantly pursue its peculiar policy regarding the judiciary. That eight deposed judges of the Sindh High Court have taken fresh oath, Law Minister Farooq Naek has reportedly met some of the deposed judges to persuade them to follow suit, and the salaries of others not willing to do so have been stopped, are indications that the government is only willing to reinstate those who are ready to abandon the principled position of seeking restoration rather than reappointment. The Law Minister's stand that Justice Dogar being the 'rightful' CJ, there could not be two Chief Justices at the same time indicates there is little hope of the reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. The repeated assurances given by the ruling leadership, that includes PPP Co-chairman Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Reza Gilani, that the government did not have any minus-one formula are, under the circumstances, likely to be interpreted as a diversionary tactic in the ongoing confrontation between the government and the lawyers.