No going back in the existential fight

And government’s wavering

Nawaz Sharif’s address on the TV was an indication that he had once again become a prisoner of irresolution. In August 2014, when the PTI and PAT activists camping in Islamabad suddenly stormed the Red Zone, Sharif had failed to decide how to respond to the challenge. As happened then, indecisiveness has once again overtaken the second tier of PML-N leadership who did not know what to do with the crowd protesting in Islamabad against the hanging of Mumtaz Qadri. Ch Nisar, who was expected to provide guidance, wanted the Islamabad administration instead to take the decision and face the consequences. The administration, on the other hand, was reluctant to move without clear guidelines from the interior minister. What happened meanwhile was a reliance on ineffective tactics like wearing out the protesters through prolonged talks and closure of the mobile service. After Islamabad, mobile service in Rawalpindi was also shut down drawing strong protests from mobile companies.

Finally, on the third day of the confrontation, Nawaz Sharif decided to take the bull by the horns, telling the administration to use all the means needed to disperse the crowd. This resolved the confusion in the leadership below. The problem with the PML-N government is that it wants to avoid taking any decision which carries risk. In politics there are often no risk-free options. That a crowd of about a thousand extremists continued to defy the government’s authority in the capital city day after day, did not project a favourable image of the government inside and outside the country.

What the government needs to realise is that there is no turning back from the war against terrorism and extremism which needs to be fought with courage and tenacity to save the nation and secure the country. The extremists of course will not forgive the PML-N for this. It is therefore important to ensure that the terrorists are taken out and extremist tendencies curbed in the interest of the generations to come. This requires an end to wavering.