Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif finally took action in an attempt to allay the criticisms being levelled at his government by civil society, opposition parties, human rights groups and the media over the disgraceful manner in which the Lahore police dispersed a demonstration by Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers on Tuesday, which ended with the deaths of 12 people including two women. Shahbaz Sharif asked for the resignations of Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah and his own principal secretary (PS) Dr Tauqeer Shah on Friday, to “ensure a fair and transparent investigation into the incident.” Reports say the decision was made at the urging of his brother the Prime Minister (PM) but the leader of the PAT, Tahirul Qadri, rubbished the move as insignificant and said that, “On moral grounds the whole chain of command...should step down over the incident,” as he received news of the resignation. One cannot fault his statement. Sanaullah may be Punjab’s law minister but it is a well known aspect of Shahbaz Shrif’s government that he is a hands-on and personally involved chief executive. The handling of the incident shows either complicity or then incompetence and in either case his resignation is a possible outcome. The CM has said that he was not personally involved in the decisions leading to the debacle and that he was “in the dark” about the operation and its handling, hence the removal of his PS, who is supposed to keep him updated on such matters at all times. However, instead of distancing himself from Sanaullah the CM appeared saddened at dismissing someone he considers a friend, saying it was a difficult decision and that Sanaullah had performed his duties in an honest manner for 15 years, but he was asked to resign “for the sake of justice.”
Was this a way to make the removal seem more important than it was? If so then it was completely inappropriate.
David Brooks recently writing in the International New York Times about Iraq astutely observed about regional politics that, “If you get the political elites behaving decently, you can avoid the worst.” His statement is particularly relevant for Pakistan, where politicians have a reputation for assuming impunity when they come into office, and not taking responsibility while there. Contrast this to how democratic accountability works in other countries and the picture is stark. In South Korea, the sinking of a ferry full of school children earlier this year led to such public ire at the incompetence of ferry and rescue personnel that the PM was forced to resign in disgrace. Here we have a dozen people dead after police opened fire on unarmed protestors and the resignation of the provincial law minister is being offered as recompense. Shahbaz Sharif must realise that he has not done anyone a favour by demanding the resignation of a public official who ought to have had the decency to tender his own resignation. Furthermore, by not distancing himself from and roundly condemning Sanaullah, as he deserves, Shahbaz has effectively put himself in the same boat. Now the buck stops at his office.
The Punjab government has initiated a one-judge tribunal to look into the events that took place, but Tahirul Qadri has said neither he nor his party will cooperate with it and implied that any such tribunal was an attempt to cover up events rather than punish the people involved. The government has attempted to reach out to the PAT and mollify its anger, but those moves have been angrily rejected and met with demands that a joint committee should be formed that includes members of the ISI and Military Intelligence to investigate the incident. The government is going to have to meet the PAT halfway if it expects to move on from this incident. The first step should be dropping the absurd case against almost 3,000 PAT workers that have been charged with terrorism. The government must meet PAT demands regarding the tribunal, and most importantly, it must be ready to assume responsibility for the incident and punish whoever is found responsible. The CM should then distance himself from the proceedings in the interests of ‘justice’.
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