The confrontation between the PML-N, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) looks increasingly like a clash of egos being played out on a national scale with the stakes being the survival not only of the democratic system, but of the country. The PML-N government has done itself no favours and seems bent on creating problems where formerly none existed. The example of this is in its stand-off with PAT leader Tahiurl Qadri, which has in the space of a few weeks elevated him to a disproportionately important figure in how events will now play out. The chaos began on June 16 when Lahore police tried to remove barriers from outside the Model Town offices of Qadri’s Minhajul Quran organisation a few days before he arrived in the country. His rhetoric aside, Qadri had little public support and was largely seen as an opportunist waiting to see what crumbs he could gather if a confrontation developed between the government and the PTI. When Minhajul Quran workers tried to prevent police from removing the barriers, a scuffle ensued and police indiscriminately fired on protestors, killing 12, including several women. The tragedy and perceived illegal use of force by the police was a boon for Qadri who was propelled into the limelight and became a focal point for unelected politicians like the Chaudhries of Gujarat. The debacle should have been a wake-up call for the government to act rationally and calmly to defuse the crisis and institute an effective inquiry to ensure the victims of the tragedy received justice. It instead offered the reluctant sacrifice of former provincial law minister Rana Sanaullah, who took the fall for the Punjab government’s incompetence. Far from placating an obviously aggrieved party, it refused to accept the PAT’s demands for the structure and formation of a judicial inquiry, setting up its own one-man judicial inquiry instead, which the PAT rejected. Qadri’s arrival in Lahore nearly created an international incident when he refused to exit his Emirates flight after it landed and was almost charged with hijacking by the airline. He was coaxed out of the airplane by Punjab Governor Muhammad Sarwar and since then has made angry threats about unseating the government through a ‘revolution’ while planning a rally on what he calls Youm-e-Shuhada (Martyr’s Day), August 10, to commemorate the victims of the Model Town tragedy. In a futile attempt to prevent this rally, the government on Thursday began arresting PAT workers around Punjab, with the PAT claiming that over 500 of its members have been taken into custody on the thin charge that they were planning to commit violence. Police then began moving containers and barbed wire around the Minhajul Quran office to prevent workers from reaching it.
Futile, because yesterday we were treated to the spectacle of police officers running from furious PAT workers who chased them away with sticks before removing the barriers and containers and marching on to Tahirul Qadri’s residence. Three thousand officers were reportedly deputed to stop them and even now clashes continue between PAT workers and the police, who lob tear gas with abandon but seem powerless to prevent the chaos despite arresting 150 PAT workers. The government’s decision to use these high-handed tactics instead of allowing Qadri to have his day in the sun are now blowing up in its face and events are outpacing it. Its statements about PAT ‘terrorism’ appear disingenuous in the wake of its brutal crackdown and it appears to have panicked in the run up to Imran Khan’s ‘Independence March’ on August 14, though the political harangue it faces did not constitute a serious threat to its authority until it reacted. Reportedly the government is also planning to blockade Islamabad using containers to prevent the PTI from overwhelming the capital. However, given that Imran Khan is more stubborn than Tahirul Qadri, it is doubtful it will be able to stop him in this manner, even as it tries to reach out to him for negotiations. He is unlikely to accept precisely because with its latest action the government has shot itself in the foot with regard to its democratic credentials. *