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Keep violence in the mind, where it belongs. The recent developments in Pakistan, which centred around the manhandling of former parliamentary affairs minister Sher Afghan Niazi by a group of violent lawyers in Lahore, and the explosive reactions on the streets of Pakistan by Musharraf loyalists endorses the fact that power can dull the senses. Ironically, it was the same pro-democracy lawyers who protested against the so-called Musharraf excesses that have now provoked a volte-face on their principles.
The stability of Pakistan's new government could be put to the test by these incidents. It could also weaken the process of restoring the country's former judiciary. And if toppling President Pervez Musharraf is the main agenda then these events can only ensure that he stays in power. That, coupled with the resignation of Aitzaz Ahsan, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, suggests that there could be a rift in the coalition.
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