• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Sunday, February 28, 2021
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

‘Sad Day for Pakistan’ : Islamabad’s Deal With Islamist Protesters Can Erode Government’s Authority

Rabiya Jaffery by Rabiya Jaffery
12/03/17
in Featured, World
Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan members

Members of the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan far right Islamist political party shout slogans during a sit-in in Rawalpindi and Islamabad on November 10. Photo: Reuters

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has expressed displeasure over the way Islamabad handled protests organized by hardline religious group Tehreek-i-Labaik Yah Rasool Allah.

During a hearing on Thursday, a judge observed further that neither Islam nor Pakistan were served during the sit-in.

The government of Pakistan struck a deal on Monday with leaders of a fundamentalist Islamist protest movement to end a protest-turned-riot that resulted in violent clashes and paralyzed Islamabad for weeks.

The protests started after a change in the country’s electoral law omitted a reference to the Prophet Mohammed from a constitutional bill in parliament.

The government said the omission — subsequently corrected — was a clerical mistake, but Islamists claimed it was a conspiracy against religious values and an attempt at softening the state’s position against the Ahmadi community.

Ahmadis are a minority Muslim sect whose views on the spiritual status of the Prophet Mohammed are different from mainstream Islam.

Their faith is rejected by the Pakistani state and Ahmadis cannot call themselves Muslims, profess the Islamic creed publicly or call their places of worship mosque.

What had been a peaceful blockade in Islamabad demanding the resignation of the law minister, Zahid Hamid, who the protesters accused of blasphemy, turned violent last weekend with chaos quickly spilling over to other parts of the country, including Karachi, the economic hub of the country.

The government was forced to suspend the operation and concede with the protesters after at least six protesters were killed and 200 injured in Islamabad over the weekend when thousands of police officers unsuccessfully tried to disperse the protestors.

The resignation of Mr. Hamid and signing has been termed a “surrender” and a “dangerous trend for democracy and the state” by most political analysts.

“The decision to resign was taken in a bid to steer the country out of the prevailing critical situation,” Mr. Hamid said, according to a report in Pakistan’s Tribune newspaper.

Observers said Monday’s deal could set a dangerous precedent.

“It is a sad day for Pakistan,” Ammar Farukh, a political analyst for a sustainable development think tank in Pakistan told The Globe Post. “Anyone can hold the state up and ask for anyone’s resignation for absolutely no legitimate reason and the state is so weak that it can’t stand up to blackmailing.”

Mr. Farukh also rebuked the army, which brokered the deal and has been criticized for its alleged proximity to extremist groups, for refusing to step in against the protesters, despite a request from the government.

However, the leaders of the protest thanked the army in the formal agreement saying its “special efforts helped to put the agreement together and averted a major disaster for the nation”.

The government also agreed to release a report on an investigation into the alteration of the electoral oath and free, while dropping charges, any detained protesters.

In return, the leader of Tehreek-e-Labbaik agreed not to issue a fatwa — a ruling on a point of Islamic law given by a recognized authority — against the minister, seemingly to dissuade attacks on him.

Mr. Farrukh added that the decision to bow to the Islamists’ demands has eroded the government’s authority and set a disturbing precedent where fringe groups can bend the state to their will by citing blasphemy.

Blasphemy is a capital offense in Pakistan and frequently serves as a rallying cry for religious extremists. Baseless allegations regularly trigger mob attacks and lynching, which the government has so far been unable to prevent.

Analysts say that the government’s failure to uphold the law exposes the fragility of the governing party, which has been under increasing pressure since disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in July over corruption allegations.

“The deal negotiated between the state, both civilian and military facets of it, and the protesters is a devastating blow to the legitimacy and moral standing of the government and all state institutions,” Mahwish Khan, a civil worker and supporter of Awami National Part, a secular leftist political party, told The Globe Post.

According to the agreement, two representatives of Tehreek-e-Labbaik will participate in a panel assigned to decide changes made to the national curriculum.

“We’ve basically handed over children’s minds to a violent gang of religious fascists,” Ms. Khan added. “This might be the scariest thing to come out of this.”

In the aftermath of the deal, prominent Pakistani-American film director Jamshed Mahmood Raza, popularly known as Jami, stated on social media that he would be moving his family out of Pakistan saying that his “kids will not see this mess.”

He added that he left the U.S. for Pakistan and gave the country 20 years but will do it “no more.”

Left US for Pak gave 20 years for cinema when there was none. Waited and now NO more!! Army GOvt IK they all in it – to burn us all down. My kids will not see this mess. Enough of darkness and waste of life. Eat ur faith ????????

— jami (@jamiazaad) November 27, 2017

 

Pakistan’s Government Reaches Deal With Islamist Protest Group

ShareTweet
Rabiya Jaffery

Rabiya Jaffery

Related Posts

US reporter Daniel Pearl was brutally killed in 2002.
National

White House ‘Outraged’ as Pakistan Court Upholds Acquittal in Daniel Pearl Murder

by Staff Writer
January 28, 2021
A single falcon can fetch up to tens of thousands of dollars on the black market.
World

Poachers’ Paradise: Gulf Hunts Fuel Pakistan Falcon Trafficking

by Staff Writer
January 4, 2021
Imran Khan
Democracy at Risk

The Opposition Challenge in Pakistan

by Saad Hafiz
December 16, 2020
Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks at a rally in Muzaffarabad on September 13, 2019. Photo: Aamir Qureshi/AFP.
World

Pakistan PM Khan Slams ‘Oppressor’ India on Kashmir Anniversary

by Staff Writer
August 5, 2020
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures during his victory speech at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi
Opinion

India and Pakistan’s Divergent Political Paths Are Converging

by Saad Hafiz
August 4, 2020
Kashmiri protestors clash with Indian police in Srinagar
Opinion

The Agony of Kashmir Lies in Selfish Nationalisms

by Saad Hafiz
June 18, 2020
Next Post
offshore balancing allies Russia and China America First Donald Trump, America First, China, foreign policy, diplomacy

Trump's 'America First' Will Hurt US Interests

A protest in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

DR Congo Recruited Rebels for Deadly Crackdown on Protests: HRW

Recommended

People lay flowers in central Moscow at the site where late opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was fatally shot, February 27, 2021.

Russians Mark Sixth Anniversary of Kremlin Critic’s Murder

February 27, 2021
What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

February 26, 2021
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) meets with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in Khartoum, last August

Sudan’s Normalization With Israel Is a Win for Everyone

February 26, 2021
Ethiopian refugees who fled the conflict in Tigray gather to receive aid at the Tenedba camp.

Eritrean Troops Killed ‘Hundreds’ in Ethiopia Massacre: Amnesty

February 26, 2021
COVID-19 vaccine

Syria Health Workers to Receive Covid Vaccine From Next Week

February 25, 2021
Moria migrant camp which was destroyed in a fire in 2020 on the Greek Aegean island of Lesbos.

Pregnant Migrant Sets Herself on Fire in Greek Camp

February 24, 2021

Opinion

What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

February 26, 2021
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) meets with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in Khartoum, last August

Sudan’s Normalization With Israel Is a Win for Everyone

February 26, 2021
Stolpersteine in Greifswald, Germany.

I Can’t Mark Where My Grandfather Is Buried, but I Want to Mark Where He Lived

February 26, 2021
Republican Senator from Missouri Josh Hawley

Trump’s Acquittal and Republican Senators: Not Setting the Bar Low Enough

February 22, 2021
Why Not Equality for America’s Puerto Rican Men and Women?

Why Not Equality for America’s Puerto Rican Men and Women?

February 19, 2021
Refugee child holding up a sign reading 'we are human like you'

US Asylum Laws Must Catch up With the Reality of Today’s Refugees

February 18, 2021
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post