Tackling profound
challenge
The government’s
handling of the Tehreek-e-Labaiq Pakistan’s (TLP’s) protests against the
acquittal by the Supreme Court of Aasia Bibi has come in for stick across a
wide range of opinion. This critique echoed in the National Assembly on
November 5, 2018 when opposition PPP member Shazia Marri compared the agreement
between the government and the TLP to the surrender at the then Dacca in 1971, linking
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s surname with that of General Niazi. This infuriated
some PTI members, who kicked up a rumpus that was joined by other PPP members.
Soon a verbal abuse match between two PPP and PTI members descended into a near
brawl. Since the party leaderships seemed unable to control their members
inclined towards fisticuffs to make their case, and instructions to security
staff to expel the most recalcitrant members proved difficult, the Speaker
adjourned the session for the day. Reports on the following day indicated the
Speaker had brokered a resolution in his chambers with the help of government
and opposition leaders. So far so good. But the fracas has thrown into relief
once again just how short-lived the convergence between the government and
opposition on the challenge thrown up by the extremists of the TLP and others
to the state’s writ was. At the first opportunity to discuss the issue on the
floor of the house, if not earlier in the public space, the two sides fell out
and into their well known traditional trenches. The seriousness of the crisis,
where the whole country was held hostage to the threats and violence of some
few thousand extremists on the roads and highways, did not seem to concern the
divided political class. This was a moment to rise above petty political
rivalries, cooperate against the challenge to the state’s writ (including insults
and threats to institutions such as the judiciary and military), and show the
people of this country and the world that our leaders across the board were
responsible, wise hands on the tiller, who would help us navigate these choppy
waters to safe shores. Instead, the worst side of the political class was on
display, albeit the troublemakers were few but the leaderships seemed helpless
to knock some sense into them.
Meanwhile the
arrests of some 1,800 miscreants responsible for violence, intimidation and
destruction of public and private property is part of the government’s ongoing ‘partial’
response to the mayhem unleashed by these extremists. What is conspicuous by
its absence is action according to the law against the leaders who instigated
the whole episode and whose attempts to distance themselves from those of their
followers who carried out their hate agenda to the letter hold little if any
water. But to get there, and get there we must if the state is to be rescued
from the laughing stock it became because of the three days on which the
purveyors of extremism and hate unleashed their violent activities, the
government needs reassurance that it will not have to keep looking over its
shoulder at the sniping by the opposition attempting to take advantage of the
controversial handling of the episode to embarrass the government further. Cooler
heads and vision is required on all sides, provocative statements against each
other should be avoided, and a concerted effort made by both sides of the
political divide to show solidarity against the disruptionists and challengers
of the state’s writ. We can only hope that better sense will prevail all round
and the political class as a whole will come together to tackle the crisis
unitedly. This is even more important since the controversial deal signed
between the government and the TLP may unravel if the arrests of its activists
(even without the leaders) continue. While the TLP is not above using violence
to attain its agenda, it may find support from mainstream religious forces such
as the MMA, reportedly girding its loins for its campaign of protest against
Aasia’s acquittal.
Another aspect
of the whole sorry aftermath of the apex court’s correct and courageous
decision according to the law of the land is the ‘forced’ exile of Aasia’s
lawyer Saif ul Mulook. Spirited away according to him to The Netherlands by the
UN and EU against his will, his spirit in protesting being in safety while his
client has yet to leave the prison walls can be admired while suggesting to him
that perhaps what was done to him was in his best interests and to prevent
another tragedy at the hands of the fanatics. Now all that remains in the
tense, fraught climate gripping the country is the release in safety of Aasia
Bibi.
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