Second Coup

The government has responded to the militancy only when domestic

and international demands to do something became overwhelming. But

instead of a legal, politically measured, and thought-out response that

is part of a long-term policy to counter the militancy, Musharraf and

his generals have responded time and again with a spasm. They

unleash a dramatic show of force including artillery, helicopter gun

ships and air strikes, which inevitably result in large numbers of

civilian deaths and injuries, inflame public opinion, and stoke the

militancy.At the heart of Musharraf’s second coup, and what has determined its

timing and character, is not an activist court, illegal detentions or the

militancy. The Court had begun to hear challenges to Musharraf’s role

as both chief of army Staff and president of the republic. Pakistan’s

constitution explicitly forbids holding both positions. A showdown was

imminent. It has been claimed that a Supreme Court judge told the

government that the court was set to rule against Musharraf.

Musharraf ended this threat by removing the chief justice and most of

the rest of the Supreme Court. Before they were bundled out of the

Supreme Court building, seven of the justices, including the chief

justice, issued an order declaring Musharraf’s proclamation of

emergency to be unconstitutional and called on government officials

and the armed forces to refuse to obey it. In a message to the country’s

lawyers, the chief justice called for opposition.

The target of the coup is also obvious from the list of those who have

been the first to be detained in the police raids: leaders of the Human

Rights Commission of Pakistan, prominent lawyers, and prodemocracy

activists. The goal is clearly to prevent a movement for

democracy and rule of law that could confront General Musharraf and

the larger structure of army rule in Pakistan.