ISLAMABAD: Senators from both sides of the aisle called on
Thursday for judicial or parliamentary probe to solve the mystery behind
the recent Faizabad sit-in and matters associated with it.
They were speaking on an adjournment motion about “the situation arising out of the manner in which the recent sit-in at Faizabad was called off culminating into abject surrender of the rule of law and constitutionally established government before a mob”.
The
senators were of the view that the level at which the decision to
distribute money among those who had challenged the writ of the state
had been taken should be ascertained besides discovering as to who had
financed the protesters.
Farhatullah Babar of the
Pakistan Peoples Party described the agreement under which the sit-in
had been called off as ‘a one-page national document of surrender’ that
set up a dangerous template to hold state and society hostage by a
gun-and-stick wielding mob of a few hundred.
Adjournment motion deplores ‘abject surrender of the rule of law’
“On that day something profound happened and Pakistan ceased
to be the country that was before,” he remarked. The state surrender on
Nov 25 before the mob will only give additional handle to our
adversaries to claim that nuclear assets were unsafe and could be
hijacked by a few thousand armed people, he added.
Mr
Babar lamented that the stage for surrender was set by a statement on
the eve of operation that seemed to equate the legitimately elected
government with the unruly mob.
Referring to the army
chief’s statement soon after the police action, he said: “By calling for
no violence from either side, equal legitimacy was conferred on legal
state institutions and the mob. It is inconceivable to engage in
operation like Raddul Fasad without the state using violence. The
question before us is whether we accept defeat for all times or we take
it as one of the low points in our history, overcome it and move on.”
He
said it needed to be probed as to how the protesters came all the way
from Lahore unhindered, how they were sustained for three weeks, who
negotiated the terms of surrender and why some appeared to be rewarded
with cash at the end of the sit-in.
“It also needs to be
investigated whether it was an isolated incident or the strange events
of the past weeks in Karachi, Islamabad, Faizabad and in Lahore were
interconnected in some ways,” the PPP senator said.
Usman
Kakar of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) said the protesters
came from Lahore to Islamabad under a plan, with a clear target of
imposition of martial law or putting in place government of technocrats.
He said the Rawalpindi police did not cooperate in dispersing the mob.
Saud
Majeed of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz said the political parties
working to weaken democracy should be identified. He also said a
parliamentary committee should find out the hidden hand behind the
sit-in.
Nihal Hashmi of the same party called for
bringing the culture of sit-ins to an end and observed that a commission
should be formed to probe the sit-ins staged since 2013.
The
Senate chairman remarked that a loud and clear message should be sent
across from parliament that religion should not be used for advancement
of political agenda.
Rehman Malik of the PPP said the
absence of rule of law and weak governance provided room for sit-ins and
terrorism, and underlined the need for soul-searching. He wondered as
to why the Punjab chief minister had restrained the provincial police
from assisting the Islamabad police. He said even those whose names were
there on the Fourth Schedule came and joined the sit-in.
Azam
Moosakhel of the PkMAP said the government committed a blunder by
calling in the army in aid of civil administration to get the mob
dispersed.
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Aitzaz
Ahsan said the sit-in was unique as a religious matter formed the basis
for it. He said the social media exposed the language used by those
claiming to be religious leaders. He said the government kept on saying
that a conspiracy was being hatched against it, but stopped short of
naming the conspirator. He said the government was conceding civilian
space for which a lot of sacrifices had been rendered by his party.
He asked why an official plane had been used for a private meeting in London.
Ghous
Mohammad Niazi of the PML-N said there should be a probe into the
remarks made by a judge about the sit-in and if these were found to be
true, those responsible should be punished.
Rubina Irfan
of the PML-Quaid said it was the failure of the government that a mob
was allowed to enter the capital. “This government has failed and failed
very badly. They should gracefully resign.” She said they claimed to be
democratic but they were not. She criticised the PML-N leadership for
what she called politics of inheritance.
Delimitation law
Aitzaz
Ahsan expressed the hope for a breakthrough on the issue of
delimitation law at a meeting of the parliamentary party leaders
convened by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday.
“We
will go there with an open and positive mind, but the government will
also have to show some flexibility,” he remarked. Observing that the
prime minister has a flexible attitude, he hoped that something good
will come out.
