There is no doubt to interpret that the lawyers movement that aimed at the reinstatement of the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and all the judges of country's Supreme and High Courts on March 16, tremendously enhanced the image and prestige of the democratic traditions and rule of law among the comity of nations. Pakistan has gained a reputation in the tireless struggle for justice and rule of law, which even never happened in several highly prestigious democracies such as the Great Britain, United States, Japan, and India. The lawyers movement made history and created a new image of Pakistan. The results are no different from the Chinese Long March under Mao Tsu Tung during 1934-35. Pakistan's long march has also changed Pakistan and its history. The victory of judiciary in Pakistan seems to be new beginning for the Third World, Islamic countries, and the emerging democracies around the globe. People have realised that rule of law and independence of judiciary is essential for a stable democratic order, good governance, and economic progress. The legal fraternity, under the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), in Pakistan sparked off a long drawn out battle against the despotic and tyrannical quasi civilian-military rule of President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf on March 9, 2007 when he decided to suspend and declared dysfunctional the Chief Justice entirely on concocted charges against the fearless and fair verdicts passed by the apex court on various occasions including the missing persons cases and the privatisation of Steel Mill. Within 4 months and 11 days Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was reinstated by the verdict passed by the Supreme Court on July 20, 2007 which ruled out that Musharraf had no authority to suspend top judge and ordered him reinstated. Although Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz accepted the ruling of the Supreme Court as being illegal against Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, Musharraf's second suspension of the judges reconfirmed his and his courtiers' sinister designs against the judiciary. Pervez Musharraf's despotism did not stop here. Once again, he sacked the chief justice along with as many as 60 judges of the Supreme and High Courts on November 3, 2007 who refused to take fresh oath under the so-called Emergency and the proclamation of the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO). On the same day, a seven-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Chaudhry declared the imposition of the Emergency as 'illegal and unconstitutional' and stood against Musharraf's illegal run for presidentship while simultaneously serving as army chief. The lawyers re-started their protest movement again on November 3, 2007 which continued until March 16, 2009. Lawyers also did not accept the partial reappointment of selective judges that was done during April 1-May 12, 2008 and continued their protest. Earlier, on May 12, 2007, Chief Justice Chaudhry's arrival at Karachi to address the Sindh Bar Association and government violent crackdown left as many as over 40 people dead in Karachi. In both cases, Musharraf accused the chief justice of corruption charges and malpractices. In the first case, Supreme Court ruled out against Musharraf's decision as being illegal. In the second case (March 16, 2009), chief justice along with other nine remaining judges were reinstated by an executive order on the position of November 3, 2007. The lawyers movement put the final nail in the coffin of Musharraf: first on November 28, 2007 when he stepped down as army chief and second on August 18, 2008 when he resigned from the position of the President of Pakistan. Interestingly, in Pakistan's history it was for the first time that a chief justice was 'suspended' or declared 'dysfunctional'. More interestingly, the chief justice was reinstated on both occasions: first the apex court's verdict and second through peoples' revolt in the shape of the long march. Therefore, during March 9, 2007 through to March 16, 2009 i.e., two years and seven days, the judicial institution remained in the process of transition and reformation and at the end it finally strengthened against the military, quasi-democratic, despotic, rigid establishment, and against all those forces that remained indifferent to the rule of law and the independence of judiciary in the country. The legal fraternity inspired the country's most diverse social movement, in which rightists, leftists, Islamists, Punjabi, Sindhi, Urdu-speaking, Pushtun, Baloch, Kashmiri, and Northern Area lawyers stood as one unifying force across the country. The reversion of the judiciary to the November 3, 2007 position tremendously enhanced the image of Pakistan abroad. Time magazine (USA) wrote on March 19, 2009 that the reinstatement of all judges was a "momentous victory for an opposition-backed protest movement." The Khaleej Times (March 19) wrote that the decision has "reinventing hope and confidence in Muhammed Ali Jinnah's Pakistan." The Harvard Law Record in its publication on March 19 states: "The lawyers movement remained livid about the government's failure to reinstate all judges." It should be reminded here that the Harvard Law School Association honoured Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry with the Medal of Freedom on November 14, 2007, which he formally received during his visit to the United States of America last November. Earlier, only two dignitaries name; Charles Hamilton Houston, an American lawyer and South African leader Nelson Mandela were awarded the same medal. Recognising him as a symbol of the movement for judiciary and its independence in Pakistan, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York granted Chief Justice Chaudhry an honorary membership on November 17 last. While appreciating the reinstatement of the judiciary in Pakistan, Washington Post (March 19) said that the United States will need to foster political stability in Pakistan to fight back terrorism. The paper (March 18) called the decision a "new dawn" in Pakistan The Jakarta Post (March 19) called the decision a "new consensus" in Pakistan and stated that "it's good that Pakistanis have chosen democracy and the rule of law." The Gazette (Montreal) in its publication on March 18 states: "Advocates of the rule of law in Pakistan are well on their way to earning a more honest and more responsive government for their country." The Madinah-based Arab News writes: "The people of Pakistan may have rediscovered their nation's original source of strength, hopefully closing the road for all abuse of power and tyranny forever." The Colombo-based Daily Mirror (March 20) writes: "It was a victory for people's power, and democracy at its best." The reinstatement of chief justice and all other judges have not only been leading Pakistan toward the formation of an independent judiciary, it is going to nullify the misperception surrounding Pakistan as a "failed" state. In return, this will lead Pakistan toward a sustainable, stable democracy, and a sovereign country. The so-called 'Doctrine of Necessity' that buried the credentials of democracy several times, would die by itself. This was something the architects of the pro-justice movement realised beyond the reinstatement of the judiciary. They laid down the foundation stone for a true and a genuine democracy for the first time in Pakistan for the 170 million people that would bring an end to the future possibility of military coup and despotic rule in the country. An independent judiciary would teach a better lesson to fuzzy privatisation and behind-the-scene wrongdoings of the secret services. In fact, without an independent judiciary the idea of sovereignty does not work. Already, following the long march, the much-expected military coup or anarchy, as envisioned by some quarters in the country and abroad, did not come. An independent judiciary would be in a position to tighten the noose around creeping militancy and terrorism and to bring a logical end to the War On Terror for which the entire globe is so long striving for. An independent judiciary, massively popular among the masses, is the beholder of human rights, minority grievances, and a symbol for Insaf (justice) for the deprived, lower, and middle classes. The country is now heading towards the rule of law rather than a year ago pick of reconciliation. The writer is a research fellow (East Asia) at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI)