Clerics have significantly lost their numerical strength in the parliament after the 2013 elections. They cannot pose any serious problem to the government, but they can settle the score on the roads. Their recent protest in Islamabad told the whole world they still have the street power to paralyze governance and add to a sense of political instability in the country. The purpose of the Islamabad sit-in is unclear and both sides claimed victory after it. The government said it had not accepted any of their demands. But it had to release all detained workers after talks. More importantly, the religious parties showed their muscle to the outside world and the government.
Speaking at a Nizam-e-Mustafa Conference at Jamaat-i-Islami’s headquarters, Mansoora, leaders of major religious parties accused the government of taking anti-Islam measures to liberalize and Westernize the country. The leaders of various schools of thought said their movement would aim at protecting the Islamic character of the Constitution and Pakistani society, the family system, seminaries and mosques. They said their struggle would continue till the enforcement of Shariah in the country and freeing it from the clutches of the “corrupt ruling elite.” Chaired by Jamaat-e-Islami chief Siraj-ul-Haq, the conference was addressed by JUI-F’s Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, Maulana Samiul Haq of the JUI-S, Senator Sajid Mir, JUP President Dr. Abul Khair Zubair and others. A joint declaration said any amendment to the blasphemy law was unacceptable. The conference also termed the Punjab Women’s Protection Bill an attack on the family system and resolved to bring an alternative draft. The declaration denounced efforts of a section of the media to ridicule Islamic values and promote Indian culture, stressing that the tendency must be checked effectively.
Last week, the religious parties paralyzed Islamabad for four days during which the communication link of the federal capital was cut off from other parts of the country and the world. Though the local media and TV channels did not give them adequate coverage on instructions by the government, yet their sit-in outside the parliament drew the attention of the world media. The police allowed them to enter Islamabad from Rawalpindi without any hindrance. They damaged CCTV cameras and six metro bus stations in Islamabad. The Punjab government provided a safe passage to the protesters to reach the Red Zone in Islamabad as if to humiliate Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan and the federal government. According to PPP Senator Aitzaz Ahsan, it was a conspiracy of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif against his elder brother and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. When the religious parties refused to leave the venue, Nisar Ali Khan decided to remove them by force. However, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif reached Islamabad and urged the prime minister not to use force against them. After an ultimatum by the interior minister to the protesters, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Religious Affairs Minister Pir Aminul Hasnat reached the sit-in venue and tried to pacify the protesters. After which, the protest ended.
However, despite a fairly large show of power, the sit-in exposed internal rifts among religious parties of different schools of thought. Leaders of 32 parties had promised to take part in the protest in a moot at Mansoora on March 15, but only activists of the Brailvi school of thought remained steadfast till the end. They, too, had not the support of many leaders and groups of their own sect. They had warned the government of a movement on the pattern of the 1977 protest, when the Pakistan National Alliance overthrew Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s government.
According to media reports, the march from Liaquat Bagh to D-Chowk was led by Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah, a coalition of Barelvi groups. Among them, the most active was Sunni Tehreek, led by Sarwat Ijaz Qadri, Aalmi Tanzeem-e-Ahle Sunnat, led by Pir Afzal Qadri, and Fidayaan-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwat, led by Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi. Most religious parties distanced themselves from the protesters but the Jamaat-e-Islami and both factions of Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP and JUP-Noorani) issued statements, asking both sides to resolve the issue peacefully. Deobandi parties, like JUI-F of Maulana Fazlur Rehman and JUI-S of Maulana Samiul Haq, did not participate in the protest. They are allies of the government and their absence is understandable. Jamiat Ahle Hadith of Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer and Markzi Jamiat Ahle Hadith of Professor Sajid Mir also skipped. They even avoided issuing statements during the sit-in. Though Islami Tehreek of Allama Sajid Naqvi and Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen had declared Mumtaz Qadri a martyr, yet they did not support or attend the protest. A few workers of Jamaat-i-Islami participated in the agitation, but they left when the protesters entered the Red Zone.
The announcement of a protest movement by religious parties comes at a point when all political parties have started undeclared electioneering, expecting early elections in the country. Even if held on schedule, the next general election is due after two years. The religious parties have also started regrouping themselves to extract their due share of power. However, they remain disoriented and fractured. They have deep political, ideological and sectarian differences among them. They only unite when some hidden hands guide them.
All major political parties in the country had refused to form alliances with religious parties in the last general election, which left them badly shattered and disunited. Their efforts to revive the defunct Muttahida Majalis-e-Amal (MMA) have also failed but they still hope to get their share of votes in the name of religion, enforcement of Sharia and anti-Americanism in the country. Their share in democratic governments has always been the handiwork of the forces that matter in Pakistan but whenever they are left to fend for themselves, their share in power is almost negligible. The MMA was the latest example. It was formed in the Musharraf era to fill the vacuum left by mainstream political parties, which were banned by the military ruler. But they bagged only six National Assembly seats when left alone in the 2008 election. The vote bank of religious parties has shrunk considerably over the years. The PTI and the PML-N have stolen their votes. They will need the help of their old benefactors if they are to perform well in the next election.
Post a Comment