No doubt, every thing appeared to be unprecedented during the four days of Long March, which proved that Pakistanis are alive. It was one of the biggest shows in the history of Pakistan, in which hundreds of thousands of people, including women, children and even children, marched from Karachi to Islamabad to support the cause of an independent judiciary.

But an unexpected end of the long march left many questions, which need to be answered by the lawyers’ leadership, the civil society, and the pro-judiciary political parties.

There could be various cogent reasons on the part of those who favoured the decision of the Supreme Court Bar Association Preisdent, Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan not to stage a sit-in outside the parliament, and those who were for staging a sit-in. They accused Aitzaz Ahsan of striking a ‘deal’ with the government.

Some agitated protesters tried to scale the ship containers and enter the protected area where the Parliament House, President House and Supreme Court are located.

They removed barbed wires and beat up some security personnel. They said they had been promised that their protest would continue until their demands were met.

Ahsan delivered an emotional speech and said that those who were accusing him of striking a deal should realise that he had once turned down an offer of premiership made by the president.

“The president told me that he could ask the then prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, to step down ‘in 15 minutes’, but first I had to stop supporting the deposed chief justice.”

Ahsan said, he had sacrificed a lot for the cause and refused to become a joint PPP-PML-N candidate for two National Assembly seats. “I can assure you that I or my colleagues cannot compromise on the issue of the judiciary,” he told the people who wanted to proceed towards the Parliament House.

Persuading them to disperse peacefully, he said: “One thing which I did not want to say before the full glare of the media is that if we go ahead and stage the sit-in, this huge gathering will dwindle to just 2,000 and the impact of this show of strength will be spoilt.”

“We will not relent on the issue until independent judges are reinstated,” he said.

Ahsan’s unexpected announcement poured cold water on the plans of civil society members, and political activists who were all set to stage a sit-in till the reinstatement of the deposed judges. Many started crying and chanting slogans against Ahsan as soon as he asked the crowd to go back to their homes. A positive outcome of the peaceful long march is that everything went peaceful, and during the four days, not even a windowpane was smashed. The long march proved that people could push the governments for acceptance of their demands in a peaceful manner. All those who were presenting a doomsday scenario if the long march was allowed to enter the capital, should be ashamed of their assessments, but of course it will never happen, as it is our history.

The long march mobilised different sections of the society, which otherwise stand polls apart, and not ready to see each other’s faces. But they all assembled in Islamabad for only one cause, which is the common cause of all Pakistanis, and that is an independent judiciary.

It was for the very first time in the history of Pakistan, where people do not dare to take out any long march against grinding poverty, inflation and other social injustices, but they have come out for an independent judiciary. They think that they are being deprived of their due share in national resources by powerful and influential groups, and only a public-backed independent judiciary can ensure dispensation of justice vis-à-vis their due share in the national resources.

It is not clear yet whether Aitizaz’s decision not to stage a sit-in outside the parliament was result of any deal, however well-placed sources say that there was an understanding brokered by Nawaz Sharif between the Aitizaz and company, and the PPP leadership that the lawyers would not stage a sit-in in front of the parliament.

Sources say the PPP co-chairperson, Asif Ali Zardari, who at the advent of the long march from Karachi was confident that lawyers could not gather a crowd of more than 20,000 to 30,000, however, the mammoth crowd gathered in Lahore, and later proceeded to Islamabad, shattered Zardari’s dream.

He contacted Aitzaz and Nawaz Sharif, and assured them that all the judges would be reinstated after approval of the budget. Sources say that Aitzaz was earlier reluctant to trust Zardari’s assurance, but later on the intervention of Nawaz Sharif, he agreed to that.

Let’s suppose, it was a deal, even then the long march has achieved its major objective. It has showed to the rulers, that the ordinary people of Pakistan have understood the importance of an independent judiciary, which unfortunately is not welcomed by the powerful establishment of Pakistan.

The establishment should be scared of these ordinary people, who have returned to their homes this time after merely touching the target, but next time they may hit it.

Hundreds of thousands of agitators sent a strong message to those in the corridors of power that they know how to mobilise nationwide and the next time the rulers would not have a chance.

But the two major lessons the lawyers’ community in particular, and the civil society and the political parties in general must learn from the bitter end of the long march is, that never ever trust those who bow to your demands after being overpowered.

Zardari, who had assured Aitzaz that the superior and high court judges, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry would be reinstated after budget session, as it was the promise of the slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto, backtracked on his words just after a couple of days.

Talking to newsmen at the Governor House Punjab on June 17, Zardari observed that her wife did not sacrifice her life for reinstatement of Justice Iftikhar but for the democracy. His body language spoke quite obvious that he felt so confident after “befooling” the lawyers.

Ahsan’s haste not merely disappointed the political activists, and the civil society members who have been supporting the cause unconditionally and trusting him for over a year, but it also prompted the otherwise cool and calm Justice retd Wajihuddin Ahmad, and Hamid Khan advocate, a former supreme court bar president.

Justice Wajih observed that if the sit-in continued for 24 hours, the government would have bowed to the lawyers’ demands. Hamid Khan too agrees that the decision not to stage the sit-in was unwise, and taken without consulting the lawyers’ leadership.

Yet another lesson which the lawyers’ community should learn that lack of coordination can be disastrous for even public-backed massive movements. Lack of coordination among the lawyers’ leadership was evident even at the start of the long march from Karachi.

It is premature to predict that whether lawyers would be able to gather such a huge crowd again, but one thing is for sure that they have to work hard to wipe the impression of a “deal”, and persuade the common people of Pakistan to follow them.

It is also high time for the parliament to take up the issue of the judges’ reinstatement now. Stretching it any further will not benefit anyone, least of all the PPP, which is increasingly seen as dragging its feet on the issue despite having made commitments to the contrary.

No matter, how confident Zardari, and his so-called constitutional wizards are, one thing is for sure, his government cannot function properly till the reinstatement of the deposed judges. Therefore, the sooner is the better.