That Rare Day when Pakistan is a Winner

It is not always that Indians get an opportunity to envy Pakistanis. Since India got independence from Britain, and Pakistan was formed 70 years ago, India has left Pakistan far behind on all parameters of development. Yet today is that rare day when Indians are looking at Pakistan with envy. The reason for that is Pakistan Supreme Court's judgment in the Panama Papers case involving Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The speed with which Pakistani judiciary has moved on this case is commendable.

Here's a timeline of how the case unfolded:
3rd Apr 2016: "Panama Papers" become public, mention Nawaz Sharif and his family members owning shell companies abroad
Apr-May 2016: Judiciary declines PM Nawaz Sharif's request to form what it called "a toothless commission" to investigate the charges
29th Aug 2016: Imram Khan files petition in court to disqualify PM Nawaz Sharif on charges of corruption, money laundering and owning benami properties abroad
1st Nov 2016: Court beings daily hearing of the case
20th Apr 2017: Court orders setting up of Joint Investigation Team and gives it 60 days to investigate
6th May 2017: JIT formed with full authority to investigate allegations against PM
10th Jul 2017: JIT submits report to court saying Nawaz Sharif and his family cannot justify their huge income, and the companies & property they own aborad
28th Jul 2017: Supreme Court of Pakistan disqualifies PM Nawaz Sharif, declares lifetime ban on him from holding any public office, and orders filing of cases against him

In just 11 months since the case was filed, Pakistani Supreme court has disqualified PM Nawaz Sharif, made him an accused in cases of financial misappropriation, and put an end to his political career. It is not unlikely that he will soon end up in jail.

If Indian courts move this fast it won't be long before corrupt politicians and their family members like Robert Vadra, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, P. Chidambaram and Manmohan Singh are put behind bars.

Hours after Pakistani Supreme Court delivered its judgment this afternoon, Nawaz Sharif stepped down as PM. Twenty-two years ago, a court in India had delivered a similar judgment disqualifying India's incumbent Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. Instead of stepping down from her post, Indira Gandhi had declared a State of Emergency, jailed all her opponents, and then commited terrible crimes against Indian Democracy. Crimes for which she never got punished by law. On this point too Pakistani democracy of today appears more mature than Indian democracy of that time.

Today is a rare day indeed, when Pakistan comes out a winner in a comparison to India.

Historic Ayodhya Verdict - time to construct and move on

Yesterday's historic verdict by Allahabad High Court on the Ramjanmabhoomi case should pave way for a process of reconciliation and construction of a temple on the birthplace of Lord Ram. Some Hindus might be disappointed by the decree to give away a third of the Ramjanmabhoomi land to Muslims. However, it would suit Hindus to be magnanimous at this point, and accept the verdict with an intent at rapprochement.

The verdict gives a feeling of justice being done to the case to the extent that it accepts the garbhgriha as the true birthplace of Lord Ram. It also asserts that the ASI research findings from the site conclusively prove that the disputed structure was built on top of a demolished Hindu temple.

Here are the key excerpts from the Ayodya verdict from the BBC website.

Here's how Ramjanmabhoomi will be divided: