Aftermath: Critics lash out at govt for use of force on PAT supporters

Myriad of commentators deem incident as being avoidable, hold provincial govt responsible for tragic turn of events.

LAHORE: Leading human rights activists and political analysts criticised the provincial government and law enforcement agencies for their dismal handling of Tuesday’s events.

A myriad of commentators deemed the incident as being avoidable and held the provincial government responsible for the tragic turn of events. The disproportionate use of force employed by the Punjab Police was roundly condemned as well.

Political and defence analyst Dr Hasan Askar Rizvi said the incident was avoidable and blamed the ensuing fracas on the poor management of the administration which allowed the situation to fester for hours.

Rizvi added that the decision to do away with barricades from Tahirul Qadri’s residence could not have been executed without approval from higher echelons of the government including the law minister.

‘I think that the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) has garnered more sympathy, especially from quarters that were not formerly supportive of the party’, he said.

Political analyst and activist Wajahat Masood placed the responsibility of the incident on the doorstep of authorities that resorted to the use of disproportionate force. He added that the PAT was a party devoid of popular appeal and had survived primarily through closed-door politics over the course of the past 25 years.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, political economist Shahram Azhar said that the incident was absolutely avoidable and placed the onus on the folly of the Punjab Police. He also added that the police should have negotiated with protestors when they included women and children.

Azhar also added that the entire situation is reminiscent of the 1976 Pakistan National Alliance-led protest movement against the Pakistan Peoples Party that eventually culminated in a military coup.

Political economist Mobeen Chughtai told the Express Tribune that when the security apparatus unleashed force on civilians then the state was guilty of fostering bloodshed.

Chughtai further said that while it was true that the barricades positioned outside Qadri’s residence breached the constitutional rights of passersby, similar barricades gracing the residences of countless residents across the length and breadth of the country were guilty of the same offence. The fact that the treatment was exclusively meted out to Qadri on a singular basis was emblematic of vindictiveness on part of the provincial government, according to Chughtai. He further said that as the constitutional head of the administration, the chief minister could escape blame irrespective of whoever ordered the protestors to be shot at.

Human rights activist Rubab Mehdi H Rizvi said that Qadri was always vocal in his opposition to extremism.

She said that those killed were civilians, not terrorists and no law in the world could justify the spilling of blood to remove barricades. Rizvi said that such incidents ought to be avoided at all costs and hoped that parties across the political spectrum would act in a mature fashion to support those fighting on the frontline. Speaking to The Express Tribune, women rights activist Samreen Shahbaz said no action had been taken against the relevant officers and deemed the establishment of a commission as insufficient.

She also called for the police officers concerned to be immediately relieved of their duties.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19^th, 2014.