Faizabad protestors settled for so less
It is a surrender so abject that the mind is numb and the heart sinks.
The deal negotiated between the state and the Faizabad protesters is a devastating blow to the legitimacy and moral standing of radical Islamist blackmailers, especially those who prepared the list of demands on behalf of the protesters.
In one brief page and six half-hearted points, the protesters surrendered their opportunity to a mob that poses to be the government.
Only the federal law minister has been sacked, and the government even managed to win in a promise of no fatwas being issued against him.
Whether the list was made out of negligence or complacency, the upshot is that the protestors have accepted that state has a right to negotiate issue even when its facing religious edicts.
The decision to compensate the state, by first allowing it to negotiate and second, by only agreeing six points – those too could have been far more ominous – could leave the door opened for maintenance of law and order.
Something profound changed in radical Islamists’ ability to get their way and the reverberations will be felt for a long time. How has such catastrophe befallen the mullahs? Devastating incompetence and craven leadership by three sets of negotiators appear to be the reason.
The protestors have been humiliated and the TLY’s Rizvi faction has further improved its standing with the party’s following — but at what cost to the mullahs? A menacing precedent has been set by the state leadership that will surely embolden others and invite copycats. It is no exaggeration to suggest that in the future even less than six demands might be accepted by the government, that would continue to believe that it has a right to negotiate.
