Nation's senior judge, family savor freedom

Smuggling of goods, homework comes to an end—as does boredom

By Kim Barker
March 26, 2008

For almost five months, friends smuggled what the family needed over the back wall: mobile phones and phone chips, two birthday cakes, a remote-controlled toy car, extra groceries and homework.

Inside, the two teenage girls and their younger brother rarely opened the curtains to view the hills behind their home. If they did, men from the intelligence agencies stared back through the chain-link fence. Telephones in the house were tapped or shut off. And police were everywhere, outside the front gate and blocking the two entrances to the neighborhood.

On Monday night, those blockades were finally lifted, and the agency men were sent away. Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, the deposed chief justice of Pakistan, and his family, held under house arrest 142 days since President Pervez Musharraf declared an emergency Nov. 3, were told they were free.

"I didn't believe it yesterday when I heard it," said Ifrah Iftikhar, 19, Chaudhry's elder daughter, on Tuesday. "It's been five months."

For many, the decision to free Chaudhry suggests that parliament may soon reinstate the fired judges —a move that would set up a confrontation with Musharraf and could lead to his ouster. The new ruling coalition has pledged to restore the Supreme Court within a month, and this court could take up cases against the president.

Musharraf, a key U.S. ally in the war on terror who seized power in a bloodless 1999 military coup, is bitterly opposed to Chaudhry, whom he tried to fire in March 2007, a move that led to nationwide protests, a large drop in Musharraf's popularity and Chaudhry's reinstatement last July.

Musharraf alleged that Chaudhry was corrupt and guilty of misconduct. Analysts and lawyers said his independence threatened Musharraf's hopes to stay in power.

In November, as the Supreme Court was preparing to rule on the legitimacy of his election as president, Musharraf fired the senior judges and imposed emergency rule for six weeks.

U.S. officials have not called for reinstatement of the judiciary and have largely ducked questions about Chaudhry, who has been given several awards by American legal groups and law schools. Instead, U.S. officials have emphasized the need for an independent judiciary.

'A great day for Pakistan'
On Tuesday, hundreds of well-wishers visited Chaudhry, carrying flowers and walking past a framed photograph hanging inside the house—a picture of Musharraf swearing in Chaudhry as chief justice in 2005. Politicians, lawyers and even a museum curator came to visit, hugging Chaudhry.

"It's a great day for Pakistan," Syeda Abida Hussain, a former Pakistani ambassador to the U.S., told the former chief justice.

Chaudhry, who celebrated his 59th birthday under house arrest with a smuggled cake, recently told lawyers he would go to the Supreme Court as soon as he was released, but on Tuesday he opted to stay home. Journalists waited in the street. If Chaudhry goes anywhere, he likely would be mobbed, as he is now one of the more recognizable figures in Pakistan.

A Chicago Tribune correspondent was the first Western reporter allowed into Chaudhry's home after the house arrest was lifted. The ousted chief justice does not give interviews to the news media, but he let the reporter meet his guests and talk to the three youngest of his four children.

For many Pakistanis, the decision to keep the entire family at home during Chaudhry's house arrest was particularly offensive. His younger son is disabled and was not allowed regular physical therapy; his elder daughter missed most of her first year of college.

Since November, the family remained inside the home as Pakistan changed outside. Musharraf stepped down as army chief. Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. Her party and other opposition parties won parliamentary elections Feb. 18, largely because of people who said they were tired of Musharraf and wanted an independent judiciary.

During those months, Chaudhry read newspapers and books, watched television and prayed, his children said. Their mother prayed for relief, they said. They played video games—Ifrah Iftikhar mastered Godfather — and they fought over petty things, such as the remote control and who was sitting where. Even though the house is large, with five bedrooms, they mostly stayed upstairs.

"What should we do downstairs?" asked Palwasha Iftikhar, 16. "So boring."

Palwasha, nicknamed "the commander" for her ability to coordinate smuggling and to speak out for her father, said she read the most recent Harry Potter book more than 50 times and spent almost eight hours a day playing video games, mostly Need for Speed.

Balaaj Iftikhar, whose muscle problems make it difficult for him to walk, celebrated his 8th birthday Dec. 25 with a smuggled cake and a single smuggled gift, the toy car. For almost a year, he had planned to celebrate this birthday with 25 friends and a costume party with a Barney-the-dinosaur theme.

While at home, Balaaj, described by human-rights groups as the world's youngest political prisoner, tried to keep up with his classes, doing smuggled homework and secretly sending out his answers.

Neither Palwasha nor Ifrah, who have both decided to become lawyers because of the experience of the past year, wanted to talk about Musharraf. When asked about the president, Balaaj wrinkled his nose and said simply, "Bad boy."

Source: Chicago Tribune