Great article in the NYTimes today about Pakistan’s supreme court ruling on Nawaz Sharif’s right to return to the country and campaign for high office. Now I’m not praising the article because it shows how the weakening of Musharraf’s support has led to an independent-minded judiciary. Nor am I praising it because of its deft depiction of the intricacies of power relations among Musharraf, Sharif and Benazir Bhutto.
No, I’m praising it because it included one very specific detail:
On Thursday, Mr. Chaudhry, leading a bench of seven judges, declared to a packed courtroom that the Sharifs had an “inalienable right to enter and remain in country, as citizens of Pakistan.”
Mr. Sharif’s supporters hugged each other and poured out of the white marble building onto the main avenue, where they slaughtered four goats in celebration. As blood spilled on the asphalt, Mr. Sharif’s backers shouted: “Farewell, farewell, Musharraf, farewell.”
