26.05.2013 Bacha of our age
The writer of crisp and witty letters to the editor and a conscientious lawyer is no more
By Javed Aziz Khan
Barrister Baachaa (or Barrister Bacha), a seasoned lawyer and nationalist leader and a humble human being was known all over the country for his crispy, witty letters to editor in the national dailies. He loved to comment on key issues of the country and the region in the form of these letters that found a place in the newspapers, especially English language.
72-year-old barrister passed away on May 18 after he sustained a head injury while having his routine walk in Hayatabad. He was admitted to the local hospital but doctors could not save his life.
Belonging to Daag Ismail Khel town of Nowshera district in the east of Peshawar, Barrister Baachaa had contested for the slot of president of the Supreme Court Bar Association in 2009 but lost to Barrister Qazi Anwar with a margin of 44 votes. Humble and always available for comments, Barrister Baachaa had a special love for media and media persons. Baachaa played an important role in the Lawyers’ Movement against the government of Pervez Musharraf and remained in jail for 13 days.
Born in 1941, Barrister Baachaa was a popular student leader as he used to deliver speeches at the Islamia College Peshawar (now Islamia College University). He was also elected as president of the Khyber Union, a prestigious student literary body of the Islamia College. When he was a student of class 9, he led a students’ protest demonstration against Israel, UK and France for their attack on Suez Canal for which Egypt’s Jamal Abdul Nasser wrote him a letter of appreciation.
He went to the UK and remained in self-exile for around 11 years when his arrest warrants were issued for criticising President Ayub Khan during a convocation at the University of Peshawar in 1961. During his stay there, he was called to the bar by the Hon’ble Society of the Inner Temple. He joined the Awami National Party in 1992 but was later expelled by the party leadership for alleged violation of the party discipline. e was later asked to join the party which he did in 2008.
His latest statement on May 14 was against the policies of the leadership of ANP. “Bilour’s accusing finger stopped short of spelling out the detestable policies of the party, which included the party leadership’s greed, love for dollars, properties worth millions of dollars in Dubai and Malaysia, and desire to win over the favours of the United States administration at the cost of Pakhtun blood and tears in Afghanistan, tribal areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” stated Baachaa while referring to a statement of Ghulam Ahmad Bilour after his defeat on NA-1 at the hands of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan.
The statement continued: “The only way to stop the party heading towards oblivion was to replace the present leadership with ideologically sound and committed workers who had the survival, honour and happiness of Pakhtuns closer to their hearts than the greenbacks in their foreign accounts.”
His colleagues and juniors were all praise for the late lawyer. “He was a nice human being and for what I liked him the most was his stance against human rights violations. Besides, he was one of the few people who could use their wit with decency,” says Faheem Wali, a senior lawyer of the Peshawar High Court. He adds that Barrister Baachaa’s one liners in his letters to the editor were matchless.
Another lawyer Khurram Zeeshan was all praise for Baachaa for taking up some key issues faced by the country in the apex courts. “He knew the power of the court and that is why took up every key issue in either the Peshawar High Court or the Supreme Court of Pakistan.”
Barrister Baachaa was much famous for his writ petitions in the public interest issues. Recently, he had filed a case in the Peshawar High Court against installing model of a jet fighter plane in a square in Hayatabad that was named after popular poet and former ANP chief Ajmal Khan Khattak. Baachaa was critical of the Peshawar Development Authority for placing a jet fighter on a square that is named after a poet of peace.
A couple of months back, he had moved the court against the creation of new provinces in the country when the federal government floated the idea. Bacha asked the court to stop the government from chopping different parts of the country. He had submitted an application in the Peshawar High Court in April, asking for the arrest of former President General (Retired) Pervez Musharraf for suspending the constitution.
“He had many friends among journalists as he was not only a lawyer but a very good writer too. He played an important role during the Lawyers Movement and never bowed to pressure,” says Amjad Ali Safi, a Peshawar-based court reporter.
The writer can be contacted at javedaziz1@gmail.com and followed on twitter at @JavedAzizKhan