The nearly two-week long sit-in by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah party at the busy Faizabad interchange linking the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, causing serious disruptions in daily routines of the public, continues. It has gone on despite the fact that taking immediate notice of their objection to a change in the wording of the oath regarding Khatam-e-Nabuwwat, the government had rectified that inadvertent mistake. And last week, the National Assembly passed the Elections Act 2017, restoring the old oath for the voters in its original form. Yet the protesters are refusing to go home, demanding the sacking of the Law Minister that the government has rightly rejected. Giving in to them could only encourage such elements to blackmail other individuals and future governments.
Leader of the demonstrators, Khadim Hussain Rizvi, has been using foul language against the government and inflaming religious passions, even inciting violence against the Law Minister. As Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal said at his Sunday's news conference, "it's very painful to see all this because our Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) never used such language even for his enemies." In this country, where the 95-97 percent of the population is Muslim, no one would deliberately want to tamper with the faith's basic belief, ie, Khatam-e-Nabuwwat (finality of the prophethood). Unfortunately, the issue is being exploited for political purposes. It is worth noting that the demand for the Law Minister's removal first came from the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in an apparent bid to win some brownie points with the religious-right. The federal government has rightly been patiently dealing with the situation. Led by leader of the house in the Senate, Raja Zafarul Haq, a team of legislators, ulema, and mushaikh has been negotiating with the protesters to resolve the standoff in a peaceful manner. The team is reported to have even offered to send the minister on leave abroad along with his family (for the sake of their safety) in case the protesters agreed to call off the sit-in, but to no avail. The party, a new entrant in electoral politics, obviously is trying to prove to its followers that it is a force to be reckoned with by bringing the government to its knees.
This is a serious challenge to the writ of the State. The two major opposition parties and some others have been criticizing the government for its failure to get rid of the demonstrators. Doing that is not difficult, as the Interior Minister asserted, the police and law enforcement agencies can get the area vacated whenever they want. Understandably, nonetheless, the government is trying to avoid bloody violence, something leaders of the agitation seem to be seeking for their political ends. It is imperative therefore for the PPP, PTI, MQM-P and all the religious parties to stand with the government and do all that is necessary to bring this unsavoury episode to a close.