Well done! Well spent! As people in their hundreds flock around utility stores in the country for cheaper food, a long march has come to an end, or has rather ‘fizzled’ out achieving a lot. No! I firmly believe the intention was not just to restore the judges or the judiciary, but several other things in its contrast.

Let’s be frank. The champions of the freedom of judiciary today will strictly NOT be able to bear its brunt, if it truly happens. And it will not happen, ‘they’ will not let it happen themselves.

Thousands of lawyers and civil society activists marched to Islamabad – not on foot of course – for the restoration of all judges who did not take oath under the November 3 PCO. The lawyers movement has interestingly transformed from one aiming at the restoration of judges and independence of judiciary into a movement aimed specifically at the ouster of President Musharraf.

Their leaders lost their aim, their focus. That is none of my concerns to be honest, but they did provide four to five days of relaxation to a government incapable of handling a country at the edge of an economic collapse.

Let me come back to how I started this text. Lets of talk of food. Lets talk of the poor. Lets talk of the hundreds of millions of rupees spent on this long march.

Where did all this money come from? Why is it being spent specifically on creating divisions amongst Pakistani’s and not on Pakistan’s development? Who amongst them is answerable?

The long march came to an abrupt end. Very abrupt I must say. Their leaders avoided questions on where they will go from here-on. Lawyers amongst them have started blaming their leadership of having struck a ‘deal’ with the government and what not.

Keep all that aside – I think their leaders have achieved what they wanted to. They deviated all media attention and subsequently the attention of the people of Pakistan from key issues. Economic mishandling and the divisions amongst their own ranks. Plundering as much and as quickly as possible because they know this government will not last very long. They deviated attention from the flaws in the federal budget. They deviated everyone from their short comings, especially with respect to the federal budget.

This movement was hijacked a long-time back by opportunists and politicians. It has lost its charm once and for all after this long march. It has served the nefarious designs of those working against the interests of Pakistan.

In all this drama – Pakistan and Pakistani’s have lost!