Avoid bloodshed at all costs

Both sides need to show flexibility

The Prime Minister has told the Parliament that he is not going to resign but is willing to accept demands which do not violate the constitution. The PTI and PAT stand isolated as no significant parliamentary party is willing to support their demand for Nawaz Sharif’s resignation. The police has acted with unusual restraint providing the protesters no excuse for violence. Even if the PTI and PAT continue to hold a peaceful sit-in for weeks, it would not change the situation on ground.

The immediate threat that the government faces emanates from Tahirul Qadri’s followers who have given a deadline for initiating violence if the party’s demands are not accepted. It is widely understood that PAT activists are capable of laying down their lives at a signal from Qadri who has acquired the aura of a cult leader. In case the PAT activists using women and children as human shields decide to advance towards the state symbols along the Shahrah-i-Dastur, they would face the Police and Rangers guarding the state symbols and finally come into clash with the Army which has been given powers under Article 245. This is a situation which has to be avoided at all costs.

The killing of 14 PAT activists by Police in Model Town has been widely condemned in Pakistan. The government has to take urgent measures too like the registration of an FIR by the relatives of those killed. This would remove a major grievance of the party. In case the government failed to act on time as usual, the crisis would deepen and things could go out of its control. As Khursheed Shah and Farooq Sattar have suggested instead of doing too little, too late, it is time the government also offered sacrifice.