No government worth the name can claim not to care about public opinion but claim itself to be democratic in nature. The expression of views through public rallies is an inherent right of all, which cannot and should not be equated with treason. On the other hand, defiance of constitution is the gravest of crimes and one who violates it is liable to be punished under clause 6 of the constitution. So question is why was General Musharraf not tried for violating the constitution whereas a political case of treason was made against Nawaz Sharif? His going to Saudi Arabia to escape being hung was, thus, in the larger interest of the country. Otherwise he would have met the same fate as Mr. Bhutto. The dictator is like a man possessed with a sword in hand. So the kind of logic PPP men present in trying to equate the deal by Zardari with that of Musharraf are just being nave. Those who are opposed to the restoration of Iftikhar Chaudhry do not understand that this is not a matter of an individual but it is a matter of setting a tradition so that no one should arbitrarily or whimsically appoint or remove judges at will. This country will be saved by the success of the lawyer's movement. This is the first sensible thing that has happened in our country. -SADIQ JAFRI, Rawalpindi, via e-mail, March 14.