Pakistan: Unnecessary apprehensions

THE democratic project must be kept on track, the PML-N government must shoulder its responsibilities with care and caution, and those opting for the politics of protest must stay within the ambit of the Constitution and the law — that, taken together, is the minimum that ought to be expected of the country’s political, military and social leadership in the days and weeks ahead. But whether everyone — or anyone — will behave responsibly is a question to which there is no clear answer yet. At the time of writing these words, with Tahirul Qadri hours away from arriving in Islamabad/Rawalpindi and the government seemingly already in lockdown mode — or is it panic mode? — it is difficult to make sense of quite why apprehension is rising and events have taken an air of threatening to spin out of control.

While the PML-N has acted to sideline key advisers in Punjab over the violence in Lahore this week, the sense of deep outrage has lingered on because of the N-League’s near-total mishandling of the situation. Perhaps the PML-N ought to remind itself of basic electoral maths and democratic facts. The party won an overwhelming majority in the Punjab Assembly a year ago and is into its seventh consecutive year in provincial office. In Islamabad, the PML-N has a majority in parliament and an opposition that, other than the PTI’s barbs, is largely focused on supporting the PML-N’s policy initiatives on the security and economic front. And, for all the rumours of friction with the army leadership, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has played a sensible innings for the most part and focused on bringing stability to the country in order to prepare it for economic revival. The PML-N, then, ought to be able to allow those opting for the politics of protest to exercise their democratic right without being unduly troubled.

Once again, for all the rumours and allegations of behind-the-scenes support by anti-democratic forces for Tahirul Qadri, the fact remains that the country has already seen off a challenge by Mr Qadri once before. This time, with the PTI sitting on the fence as opposed to throwing its support wholeheartedly behind the democratic process, there may be some greater noise surrounding whatever Mr Qadri and his on-again, off-again political allies may choose, but the fundamental calculus ought not to change. The PML-N governments in Islamabad and Lahore can and should step back and therefore deny their opponents the very thing they seek most: the oxygen of publicity and overreaction by the state. As for Mr Qadri and whoever chooses to join his cause, there is an onus of responsibility on their shoulders too. By all means, their right to protest against the government and its policies is sacrosanct and should not be violated. But there is a thin line between democratic dissent and an incitement to violence — and it is far from clear that the PML-N’s would-be tormenters understand where that line ought to be drawn. With a military operation under way in North Waziristan and the state’s resources drawn towards protecting against blowback in the cities and towns, there must be hope that better sense will prevail in Mr Qadri’s camp and his actions will not exacerbate political tensions.