As Pakistan celebrates 60 years of independence, Amjad Malik says the UK has a key role to play in restoring the rule of law in its former colony


More than a million Pakistani people have settled in the UK since the country's creation 60 years ago this week, creating a unique relationship between the two nations.



However, Pakistan has struggled to establish itself for various reasons, such as the death of its founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah (who was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn) shortly after partition, as well as poor infrastructure and a lack of political and economic stability in its early life. Nearly four of its six decades of life have seen military regimes. Pakistan's parliament is still struggling with other institutions for its sovereignty, while the judiciary and media are both fighting hard to come out of the strong grip of military rulers.



In recent years, the UK and Pakistan have signed bilateral agreements and protocols to promote co-operation in various sectors. In particular, in 2003 the respective judiciaries signed a memorandum of understanding to tackle child abduction. This also promoted better standards in Pakistan's legal profession.



Then came 9 March this year, when Pakistan's military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, tried to subdue the Chief Justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, by suspending him from judicial work, incarcerating him and making him incommunicado, along with his family, without counsel. The legal fraternity stood up for him and that single judge conquered the hearts and minds of the Pakistani people. Even The Times, in an editorial in March entitled 'Judicial Error', said General Musharraf should reinstate the judge. 'Good generals know when to retreat,' it declared.



I wrote to General Musharraf in March, arguing that the procedure adopted gave rise to serious questions of impropriety and of whether the Chief Justice could ever have a fair hearing. The Chief Justice resorted to the courts and eventually petitioned for justice in his own court. On 20 July, a Supreme Court bench of 13 judges quashed the decision and restored the Chief Justice to his old position.



Other recent events in Pakistan, including the 12 May massacre in Karachi when the Chief Justice was due to address the Karachi Bar Association, military operations at the Red Mosque in Islamabad, and a sharp increase in suicide attacks, prompt serious questions of the ever-growing threat of radicalisation in Pakistani society and the ever-widening gulf between liberals and theologians, trends which can also be seen in the UK.



I believe simple democracy with justice can solve half of the problems in Pakistan. In the whole power struggle, the common man is suffering and middle class conservatives are losing ground. The west must play its role to ensure free and fair elections in Pakistan under a credible caretaker, together with a powerful election commissioner and independent monitors. The sooner the nuclear-armed Pakistan returns to normality, the better it will be for the rest of the world. The fear is that radicalisation may increase while the military runs the country, as it makes compromises with hardliners to make up for its lack of legitimacy. Only a civilian set-up can absorb these radical ideas, by addressing political issues through dialogue and stopping them from multiplying.



As a frontline state in the 'War against terror', Pakistan is a key country that needs the attention of the west. The historic judgment of 20 July is potentially a turning point in the country's short history - Pakistan's leaders are now at a crossroads. The western world, and the UK in particular, have a very important role to play to return its old colony to a democracy where the rule of law, rather than military rule, holds sway.



Amjad Malik, of AM Solicitors in Rochdale, is chairman of the Association of Pakistani Lawyers (UK)