Warsaw: Islamabad sit-In protest has finally come to an end after a week long fierce clashes and standoff between Pakistani ruling political party and followers of TLY (Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah). The govt. has finally accepted following demands in return to end Sit in:
- Remove Federal Law Minister Zahid Hamid from his position immediately. “Tehreek-i-Labaik will issue no fatwa[religious decree] of any kind against him.”
- The report prepared by Raja Zafarul Haq-led committee will be made public within 30 days and whoever is named in the report for being responsible for the change in the election oath will be acted against under the law.
- All protesters arrested between November 6 until the end of the sit-in from across the country will be released within one to three days according to legal requirements. The cases registered against them and the house arrests imposed on them will be ended.
- An inquiry board will be established to probe and decide what action to take against the government and administration officials over the operation conducted by security forces against protesters on Saturday, November 25. The inquiry should be completed within 30 days and action will be taken against those found responsible.
- The federal and provincial governments will determine and compensate for the loss of government and private assets incurred from November 6 until the end of the sit-in.
- The points already agreed to concerning the Government of Punjab will be fully implemented.
But what we have really learnt from all this? Is the rising political & economic instability good for prosperity of our country? This and many other questions need to be addressed properly as Pakistan today, is under tremendous pressure of foreign forces who are doing their utmost to tear us apart both internally as well as globally. One also needs to acknowledge that political instability may allow the enemies of Pakistan to scapegoat and harm our economic and security situation.
One needs to remind the Political elites that political instability adversely affects the economic growth & hence uncertain FDI and looping security situation. If we look at statistics, 2017 Pakistan is quite different than Pakistan in 1960s’. During 1960s’ we were one of the fastest growing economies in developing world but unfortunately we could not materialize it and Today’s Pakistan GDP per capita is around $1600, whereas GDP per capita of China is $8,123 which used to be $98. Out of many mistakes that led us to this economic instability is: Mistakes made by our Political and military establishments when we got too much involves in regional & global geo-political games instead of prioritizing our economic development and these mistakes were gruesome for our political & economic stability. We have indeed failed to straighten our policy making process as its still divided between two power corridors within our country.
The country’s political and military establishments need to play their role within their respective constituencies. The remarks by Islamabad High Court Chief Justice are a clear indication that things are not going right within running machinery of the Govt. The role of military ‘as a mediator’ to end ‘Sit in’ at Islamabad has already drawn attention to flaws within out running political system.
The Pakistani elites have to finally realize that exclusionary power grabs and centralized governance will not deliver stable acquisition of power when political power is dispersed and polarized. We must also realize that the inability to deepen the democratic compact along these lines of ambiguity and instigating political instability will lead us to persistent contestation that is likely to impose a heavy cost on Pakistan’s future.
Author:
Yasir Aziz
M.A Political Science & Int. Relations
Correspondent: ‘Overseas Tribune’
Warsaw- Poland
Twitter: @yasirazziz
