Business Recorder editorial Nov 29, 2017

Nawaz Sharif’s ‘unhappiness’ Former prime minister and head of the PML-N Nawaz Sharif is very upset by the mishandling of the sit-in in Islamabad and the subsequent total surrender to the protestors. In a meeting with party leaders in Islamabad, Nawaz Sharif said recent events had damaged Pakistan’s international repute and sent a negative message to foreign capitals, especially Beijing. It should be kept in mind that China is making a huge investment in Pakistan through the CPEC and would look unfavourably at religious extremism rearing its head once again. Nawaz Sharif also expressed his displeasure at the language used in the one-sided army-brokered agreement between the government and the protestors. Reports say he was unhappy at not being consulted during talks with the protestors’ leaders and over the preparation of the draft of the six-point agreement in which the government conceded all the protestors’ demands. Nawaz Sharif only learnt about the agreement through the media when it was presented in the Islamabad High Court. When Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal was interrogated by Nawaz Sharif about the handling of the sit-in, he requested a private meeting where he and Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry briefed their leader on the issue. Despite the ministers’ efforts to placate an angry Nawaz Sharif, he wanted to know if the government knew if the protestors had been ‘facilitated’ by someone. This is a valid question given that the protestors seemed able to quickly call on reinforcements when required and had managed to smuggle into the sit-in weapons and state-of-the-art teargas guns that even the law enforcement agencies do not possess. Nawaz Sharif also wanted to be informed who drafted the agreement that praised the protestors and the role of the army. Ahsan Iqbal later denied that his party leader had expressed any displeasure. He also attempted a mea culpa by describing the agreement that ended the Faizabad sit-in as ‘undesirable’ but unavoidable to save the country from the threat of “religion-based violence”. He claimed that the civil and military leadership acted “collectively” in making the deal. But this attempt at post facto justification was blown away by the revelation by Tehreek Labaik Ya Rasul Allah (TLYRA) chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi that it was the army and ISI that had ‘ensured’ the government would accept the protestors’ demands. That statement shed a more than uncomfortable light on why the government seemed to have capitulated so completely. If people breathed a sigh of relief that the Faizabad sit-in had ended, it may prove to be only a temporary peace. For one, another faction of the TLYRA has refused to end its sit-in before the Punjab Assembly in Lahore that has already disrupted traffic and life in the city. They have set forth another set of demands beyond those agreed in Islamabad, first and foremost amongst which is the demand for Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah’s resignation. This development indicates that the Pandora’s box opened up by the Islamabad agreement has yet to play out fully. The Khadim Hussain Rizvi faction of TLYRA has announced a rally on January 4, 2018. The date is significant as the day Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer was murdered by his police guard Mumtaz Qadri, whom the TLYRA has elevated to the status of a shaheed (martyr) and hero after he was hanged in 2015. The TLYRA, whether the Islamabad or Lahore factions, seem bent upon continuing their intimidatory campaign indefinitely, seeking new issues with which to feed it. The government and the state may live to rue the day ink was deposited on the agreement in Faizabad. No wonder Nawaz Sharif is ‘unhappy’.