Do protests need courts’ backing?

The country’s top court has once again become the centre of attention for political forces as well as the general public after former premier Imran Khan said on Tuesday that his strategy for the next long march would dependent on the Supreme Court’s decision with the government warning that the “anti-state” long march would be dealt with an iron hand.

The PTI chairman, while admitting in several news conferences that action from law enforcers against his party leaders and workers dented the previous rally, has frequently been saying that his party would seek clarity from the Supreme Court on holding public rallies, and warned that in the next phase, it would come with “complete preparations”.

On Imran seeking protection for his second long-march rally from the apex court and the government calling the long march an “armed attack on the state in the garb of political activity”, independent political experts had a consensus that political parties should solve their issues on their own, adding that if they cannot then the top court should issue an order with clarity to defuse tensions and set precedent for future rallies.

On a previous occasion, Imran chalked up the disappointing turnout to roughshod police raids while the government took it as a shot in the arm as the PTI chairman had to abruptly call off the rally last week, which he had earlier planned to convert into a sit-in till election date was announced.

Imran, while accepting that the fear of police action hampered the spirit, hoped that this would not happen the next time, especially after a decision from the Supreme Court.

‘Wrong to seek NOC from SC’

Ahmed Bilal Mehboob of the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat) said that any protest should meet three basic conditions: it should be peaceful, it should not disrupt routine commercial and civic life and permission should be sought from local administration and conditions of permission be agreed.

“I think it is wrong to seek NOC from Honourable SC,” the Pildat president said, adding that “SC is not a NOC granting authority”.

Mehboob said the SC in one of its previous orders had given guidelines for such protests on the lines he mentioned above, saying all political players must follow those guidelines.

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Commenting on the notion of revolution needs courts’ backing, Mehboob said that “we use the terminology of ‘revolution’ but we all know that it is democracy and democracy produces gradual changes and not revolution”.

Agenda-specific protests make the state feel vulnerable

Professor Tahir Malik of NUML University said that the former premier held several rallies in different cities and faced no problem from the government side. However, he said, when an agenda-specific march or sit-in is organised then the state feels vulnerable and comes into action.

The professor at NUML University’s IR department gave an example of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan’s (TLP) protest against the PTI government, saying the religious party held agenda-based protests and the government took several measures to contain that; one of which was a secret agreement which has not yet surfaced.

Reminding that the right to hold peaceful protest is already granted under the Constitution, Professor Malik recalled that the PTI violated previous guidelines of the apex court and had it not ended the rally the top court could have issued a restraining order which would have caused troubles for the former ruling party.

Malik was of the view that the SC could be the best arbitrator if the political parties do not solve their issues by themselves, adding if the political parties end up before the court then it should issue an order with clarity about the rights of the protestors and the general public, saying public life should not be affected and civic rights should not be violated in the name of a peaceful protest.

Agreeing with Mehboob’s conditions, Malik said that the apex court should also keep in mind that the budget was around the corner and the previous sit-in was held exactly when the government was in talks with IMF, which failed.

He said PTI would lose the high moral ground if it violates the top court’s order this time around, adding the restrictions from the court on rally would make law enforcers’ work much easier.