Will Fazl live up to agreement with PTI government?

ISLAMABAD: Will Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman follow in the footsteps of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) by reneging on an accord with the government?

Back in 2014, an agreement was signed between the Islamabad administration, under the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), that a protest would be held at the Zero Point in Islamabad. 

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However, when the PTI and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) activists had separately reached that venue, they had stormed into the Aabpara Market and the adjoining Kashmir Highway. 

The government was content with allowing them to remain camped at these busy places, but they had some other plans as well, as they later raced towards the Red Zone.

Then, there was no stopping, and the protesters forced their way into D-Chowk. The law enforcers presented a helpless spectacle to stop the protesters, as behemoth cranes were used to throw away dozens of shipping containers to clear the way.

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At every stage, it was ensured that there was no armed confrontation between the law enforcers and protesters to avoid any human losses. The government was cautious and careful to avoid casualties, as it was still being haunted by the Model Town tragedy in which over a dozen PAT supporters had been killed in a face-off with the police.

While Fazlur Rehman has started his Azadi March from Karachi, which will take at least four days to arrive in the federal capital, the PTI-PAT had launched their protests from Lahore. 

The 2014 federal government had created no hurdle and allowed the march to reach Islamabad, leaving it to the capital administration to deal with the protesters. Because of this policy, the protest passed through Punjab peacefully. The real drama unfolded when it reached Islamabad.

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At the time, an agreement had also been signed between the PTI and the Islamabad administration. But it was attached no importance, as the protesters did what they had planned. The accord was quite similar to the one inked last week between the JUI-F and the capital administration.

The Zero Point, Aabpara Market and the nearby Kashmir Highway, where the PTI and PAT activists had initially forcibly encamped, were relatively close to the Constitution Avenue, which is part of the Red Zone. 

The Sunday Bazaar ground in H-9 sector, near Peshawar Morr, where it has been agreed that the Azadi March will be held, is around nearly four kilometers away from where the protesters had assembled in the beginning in 2014. 

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Naturally, the JUI-F zealots would need more time and have to remove more hurdles to venture into the Red Zone if they decide to breach the accord.

What chief government negotiator Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak has now stated is akin to what the then interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had articulated in 2014. 

“The law will come into action if democratic institutions were attacked. We will not allow the protesters to enter the Red Zone. Nobody will be permit to take the law into his hands. The government is trying to convince PTI to record its protest without disturbing citizens and paralysing civic life in Islamabad," Nisar had said. 

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"Nobody would be permitted to ransack government and state buildings. The Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel and police forces have been summoned from other cities to ensure the protection of national installations," Nisar had warned. 

"A mechanism has also been evolved for the use of water cannons. A three-tier security plan has been prepared and FC, police and Rangers personnel will perform their duties to avert any untoward incident.”

The agreement signed between the JUI-F and Islamabad administration is silent on the duration of the protest, and it only says that “the organiser shall be responsible for ensuring timings are strictly adhered to”. 

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The “timings” have not been qualified in the publicly released document. The accord also says there will be no road obstruction or disturbance to the general public and traffic.

Fazlur Rehman himself has also not fully unveiled details of his programme – whether the protest will be confined to one day and will end after a public meeting or it will be converted into a sit-in for a specified or indefinite time. 

It is clear from the instant agreement that the law enforcement agencies will stay away from the Azadi March gathering, as, according to it, “the internal security of the programme is the responsibility of the organisers”, who will also “arrange walk-through gates”.

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There will be obviously complete calm and tranquility and the Azadi March will be unable to create further stir its sponsors intend to engender if all or most of the conditions of the present agreement are abided by. 

However, there is a long track record of political parties tearing apart such accords and do what they have predetermined once they are able to mobilise sufficient gatherings. 

This phenomenon was amply witnessed in the countless protests held during the tenure of the previous government.