A complete mishandling

Govt’s shocking mishandling of Tahirul Qadri's arrival can only be put down to panic — which was perhaps unwarranted.

The government’s shocking mishandling of the arrival of Dr Tahirul Qadri can only be put down to panic — which was perhaps unwarranted. It started with the sealing off of the entire area around the airport and the partial sealing of many thoroughfares in Islamabad and Rawalpindi . Then there were the clashes (yet again) between Qadri’s supporters in the wee hours of June 23. But what really took the cake was the diversion of the airplane carrying Qadri from Islamabad to Lahore.

The government’s justification of the move seems to be security reasons — suggesting that had Qadri gotten off at the Islamabad airport, it could have been a difficult situation to handle in terms of security — particularly during his road ‘march’ from Islamabad to Lahore. However, the diversion has opened up another problem that has nothing to do with security or politics. It pertains to the commitments between the state of Pakistan and private foreign airline carriers — which has obviously been heavily compromised by the last-minute diversion, and then Qadri’s refusal to disembark for three hours. The Gulf-based private airline, one of the largest in the world, obviously protested the move, which has affected its logistics. With only a few foreign airlines left operating to and from Pakistan, this will do the country no favours. One prominent airline recently announced the closure of its Pakistan routes following the Karachi airport attack earlier this month. Then what of the poor passengers who had nothing to do with Qadri or the government and ended up landing in Lahore instead of Islamabad? Granted that the government agreed to fly them back to Islamabad, but the damage has already been done.

All things said, there was no need for all of this. Qadri had arrived with much aplomb back during the end of the last government too, and many felt his arrival could derail the democratic process. But instead of panicking, the government welcomed him and allowed him to hold his rally and sit-in. Ultimately, the entire episode fizzled out without incident or impact. Conversely, the current government’s handling of the situation can be best described in one word: debacle — and one of its own making.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2014.

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