Senator Farhatullah Babar Monday termed as unwise the press release of the telephonic call of army chief to the prime minister advising that the sit-in be handled peacefully and avoiding violence on both sides.
The term ‘both sides’ equates the dharna people already declared as terrorists by the Islamabad high court making demands at gun point with a legitimate government that is constitutionally bound to protect the life, property and honour of citizens.
The interior minister mishandled the situation no doubt but his error of judgment was no reason to equate the two sides, the government and the protestors, he said.
He said that the army and civil must speak to one another through available mechanisms and not through media. ‘Even if the tele-talk was necessary there was no need for issuing any press release which could be misinterpreted’, he said.
Media management was not about writing good press releases, it was about anticipating the impact of press release on people’s minds, he added.
In the context of protestors chanting death threats avoidance of violence by both sides was impossible and blurred the distinction between rule by the mob and rule of law, he said.
He said that violence could only be used by the state and those who have successfully carried out Raddal-ul-fasad knew it well.
He said that dharnas had become a regular feature of our political landscape and instead of a lawful means to air grievances they were now used to paralyze state and society.
Dharans over long periods of time required huge financial and managerial resources. It was time that a judicial probe should be held into all the dharnas of 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017 to expose if there were hidden hands behind them, he said.
