TLP protest
The Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) protest against France’s insistence on the display of caricatures/cartoons of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) has yielded a rich crop of some 250-300 people injured amongst the protestors and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) since the night of November 15, 2020 in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Initially prohibited by the authorities, the TLP protest march from Liaquat Bagh to the Faizabad interchange mobilised some 3,000-5,000 plus militants, against whom about 5,000 police and paramilitary forces were arrayed. It now seems the LEAs underestimated the capabilities of the TLP cadre. Pre-emptive arrests of TLP workers all over Punjab (some 400 in Rawalpindi alone) failed to stop the march, as did the barricades and deployment of the LEAs on the route and at Faizabad. When even water cannon failed to quell the protest, reports speak of an operation planned against the sit-in at Faizabad, but this was apparently halted on the orders of Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, who ordered a peaceful resolution through talks. The outcome of these talks is a handwritten agreement bearing the signatures from the government side of Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Pir Noorul Qadri, Interior Minister Ijaz Shah and the Deputy Commissioner Islamabad. The TLP claims on the basis of this document that the government has accepted all four of its demands. These include the government asking parliament for a decision within three months to expel the French ambassador, not appoint any ambassador to France, a boycott of all French goods and the release of all the arrested TLP workers. No case will be filed against the TLP leaders and workers even after (and whenever) it calls off its sit-in (which it has yet to do). Meanwhile Faizabad remains occupied by the protesters’ sit-in, along with the occupation/blockage of roads connecting to or emanating from Faizabad. As to the agreement, there is still no official confirmation of its contents or what the TLP claims has been guaranteed to it post-sit-in. The only response from the authorities so far is an interior ministry notification regarding the immediate release of all TLP workers arrested all over Punjab in the last few days. TLP has so far not concurred with the government’s version that the protest has been called off after prolonged negotiations. TLP says its final decision will only be after a meeting with its leadership. TLP supremo Khadim Hussain Rizvi is expected to make any announcement regarding the end of the protest from on top of the stage. Needless to say, the sooner this transpires, the better for the citizens of the twin cities whose lives, commutes and business have been badly disrupted since the protest began on November 15, 2020.
It is disconcerting the amount of street power religious extremists have accumulated in Pakistan over the years. Certainly enough to hold the state hostage when this street muscle is deployed, as happened in the Lal Masjid episode, the TLP’s 2017 protest (dispersed with the help of public distribution of cash to the protesters to persuade them to go home), and now this one. One can sympathise with the PM’s probable concern that in the charged emotional climate of protest against the Prophet’s (PBUH) insult, softly, softly may well be the better option than an all-out operation that potentially could have led to bloodshed. Of course we also have the pig-headed stubbornness of French President Macron in persisting with the insult in the name of free speech, when all sensible people would abide by the old dictum: your freedom ends where my nose begins. To add injury to insult, Macron also insists on ‘moulding’ all immigrants and non-white people in his country into some pre-conceived notion of what it means to be French. This attitude is likely not only to prove more divisive than ever, it smacks of a desire for uniformity irrespective of the diversity of French society today. Surely this ‘imposition’ runs counter to the idea of a tolerant, democratic society. Then Macron has a view of Islam that conflates the attitudes of an extremist Muslim minority to that of Muslims entire, when the overwhelming majority of Muslims, including those who live in France, are moderate, sensible and law abiding citizens. The other side of the coin of course is our minority religious extremists such as the TLP holding state and society hostage to their blinkered vision. While this tail has enough mischief capacity to wag the dog, better sense needs to prevail both in the west, especially France, as well as in the Muslim world and community to approach the sensitive issue of the Prophet’s (PBUH) respect sensitively and with due moderation on all sides.
No comments:
Post a Comment