After the botched operation

If it was a halfhearted effort to quell the Faizabad sit-out or simply an ill-planned operation which has now blown into a countrywide crisis, the nation is watching the events unfold. The club-wielding mobsters rule the roads and streets across the country battling the police. The government helplessly called in the army and blocked TV channels transmission. Uncertainty prevails everywhere, in big and small cities. This could have been avoided, had we learned lessons from the past and had a vision for the future.   

Protests involving religious elements need a specific strategy to tackle with, which the media, courts and the government religiously ignored in this case. The media inflamed the sentiments since the inception of the protest, led by the Tehreek Labaik Ya Rasool-Allah (TLYRA), which demanded the resignation of Law Minister Zahid Hamid for his alleged role in the rewording of a voter’s oath in the electoral bill, played for the gallery. First, the TV talk shows dragged the issue irresponsibly despite knowing much about the disastrous sequences. Awami Muslim League leader Sheikh Rasheed played with the emotions of the people for his cheap political gains. Once the operation was launched, the TV channels began a live broadcast of violent clashes between the law enforcement agencies and the protesters, provoking the elements in other parts of the country to chip in their share in the ‘sacred’ cause. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority had to order blocking the coverage. Putting the channels off-air is as illegal as is unethical the live coverage of the violent coverage.

Once the sit-out, though consisting of a few thousands of TLYRA activists, was in place at the Faizabad section, the Islamabad High Court unnecessarily jumped into the issue. To deal with the protest was purely a civil administration issue. The government was coerced into the action. The government knew the sequences, whereas the court was issuing notice after notice. Now, it is the government, not the court, dealing with the protesters. Fear the day, when on one fine morning, a judge orders the government and the army to go and liberate Kashmir from the Indian rule pushing the nuclear button. In the Faizabad case, the court was not simply ready to listen to the government. The outcome of the Lal Masjid operation was a deterrent: the cleric who led the clashhead-onn with the army has been allowed to walk the streets whereas the then ministers, the government head, and law enforcement agencies officers are appearing in the courts.      

Also, government’s policy of selective action needs to be reevaluated. The government must act fast to restore law and order in the country. There should be a blind, across-the-board policy towards protests. In democracies, right to peaceful assembly of people is guaranteed to the subjects. Holding hostage the people’s lives is not a democratic right. The government must be clear on this point, and any event disrupting the civic life should be dealt with iron hands.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi needs to take decision and assert the government’s authority. He, in consultation with the provincial governments, and the army should announce some corrective measures in no time.

These are not usual times; unusual times demand unusual measures.