Supreme Court says it wants to know name of ‘mastermind’ behind Faizabad sit-in

The Supreme Court (SC) said on Wednesday it wanted to find out who the mastermind was behind 2017’s Faizabad sit-in, when several political parties protested against a change in the Khatm-i-Nabuwwat oath of the Elections Act 2017.

A three-member bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Aminuddin Khan heard a set of pleas against Justice Isa’s 2019 verdict.

The bench rejected the government’s fact-finding committee, and ordered that a new one be constituted.

On September 27, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) and the the Intelligence Bureau (IB) withdrew their pleas against the verdict.

During a hearing on September 28, the government approached the SC to withdraw its review petition. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) also did the same.

Irked by multiple withdrawal requests, CJP Isa had said at the time: “It was said there were mistakes in the verdict. Now, at least tell the reasons for withdrawing the petitions.”

The hearing was then adjourned til November 1 (today).

Faizabad ‘dharna’

In November 2017, political parties including Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah protested and held a sit-in for nearly three weeks at Islamabad’s Faizabad Interchange.

They were protesting against a reversed change in the Khatm-i-Nabuwwat oath in the Elections Act 2017. The protesters demanded the resignation of then Federal Law Minister Zahid Hamid.

Faizabad sit-in verdict: CJP asks why everyone is scared and reluctant to speak truth

In order to disperse the huge number of protesters, Islamabad police, with the help of Frontier Corps personnel and Rangers, launched an operation and used tear gas shells and rubber bullets. In retaliation, protesters threw stones at the security forces. Several people were injured and at least six were killed during the clash.

The protest came to an end after the protesting parties and government reached an agreement. One of the agreement included the resignation of Hamid, which he later tendered.

The verdict

Justice Isa, in his 2019 Faizabad dharna judgment, had written that the Constitution emphatically prohibited members of the armed forces from engaging in any kind of political activity, which included supporting a political party, faction or individual.

“The government of Pakistan through the Ministry of Defence and the respective chiefs of the army, the navy and the air force are directed to initiate action against the personnel under their command who are found to have violated their oath,” read the 43-page verdict authored by the incumbent CJP Isa.

He stated that no one, including any government, department or intelligence agency, could curtail the fundamental right of freedom of speech, expression and press beyond the parameters mentioned in Article 19 of the Constitution.

“Pakistan is governed by the Constitution … obedience to the Constitution and the law is the inviolable obligation of every citizen wherever he may be and of every other person for the time being in Pakistan,” he wrote in the verdict.