The sit-in led by a second faction of the Tehreek Labiak ya Rasoolallah (TLY) finally wrapped up after the provincial government struck a deal with the Lahore chapter of TLY’s leader, Ashraf Jalali.
The sit-in had come fast on the heels of the Faizabad sit-in which was called by the TLY’s original leader, Khadim Hussain Rizvi. Originally meant to support the larger protest in Islamabad, the sit-in outside the Punjab Assembly took a life of its own due to disagreements within the TLY which have now caused it to visibly split into two factions headed by Ashraf Jalali and Khadim Hussain Rizvi.
With all this going on, people weighed in on the two different agreements signed in Islamabad and Lahore, the split in the Tehreek and all the implications it came with:
People were impressed at how it was handled:
There was, naturally, the criticism which was due to arise over the seemingly more amicable way in which the Lahore sit-in was handled. The city was not paralyzed as was the case in Islamabad and it did not last nearly as long. Negotiations also worked in the first attempt and there was no block on media coverage.
However, it should be realised that the momentum of this sit-in began to wane the moment the protesters got up from Faizabad and could only be maintained until the 12th of Rabiulawal. Moreover, the Lahore protesters did not have nearly the numbers that the ones in Faizabad did.
Other people, not so much:
And here ends another Dharna as Dr Asif Ahsraf Jalali and @GovtOfPunjab strike a 6 point deal that vows to formulate multiple committees 🙂
— Ajmal Jami (@ajmaljami) December 1, 2017
While many lauded the way this one was handled without any external involvement to mediate between the two groups, anti-government opinion continued on the same line. Those criticising the end of the Lahore situation said that it was another ‘surrender’ to extremist forces which would promote a similar culture in the country’s mainstream politics.
The irony of it was not lost on people:
Khadim Rizvi and Ashraf Jalali fighting is the best thing I’ve seen all month. Kuch tau thandak milli mere dil ko. pic.twitter.com/LXE64VTQ7M
— Gule (@gulmeenay) November 30, 2017
The fact that a religiously fueled protest resulted in an ‘Islamic’ political force being split into two was not lost on many people. The fact that Jalali and Rizvi duked it out on live television, with no holds being barred on Rizvi’s tongue, did not make the matter any better for the TLY. Pakistan Today’s own satire publication The Dependent also took a shot at the hypocrisy of the the two TLY leaders running a story named “Each TLY faction to unite Muslim Ummah separatly.”
But everyone was glad it’s finally over
While different people took away different things from the end of the hectic weekend which turned particularly long, one thing that everyone seemed to be on the same page on was that both Lahore and Islamabad have gone towards normalization since Ashraf Jalali packed up his protest on Friday night.
