'A Time of Sacrifice'

As Pervez Musharraf was sworn in yesterday, the deposed chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, remained under house arrest less than a mile away. Visitors are forbidden. His family, including a seven-year-old son, are also locked in. Yesterday the Guardian obtained a copy of a letter smuggled out by Chaudhry's 16-year-old daughter, Palwasha. The following is an excerpt:

"Ever since I opened my eyes I have seen my father affiliated with judiciary and now it is like a part of our lives. Our life is like a tree and judiciary is one of its branches. We have grown up with this branch and we cannot let anybody slice it.

"We may not be allowed to attend our schools or universities, we may have got our mobile phones blocked, we may not be allowed to meet anyone or go out, we may be kept in our homes like prisoners, we might be treated like militants or terrorists but we do not care, because it's a time of sacrifice and we have to do it.

"We are proud to have elders like you [judges] who have made us proud. We will feel proud to tell our youngsters that our elders did not succumb to any kind of pressure no matter how hard things were around them. We will always walk with our heads high and our hearts filled with pride. Yours, Pinky."