FIRST, let there be no doubt: an anti-terrorism court has issued warrants for the arrest of the PTI and PAT leadership because the PML-N government made a political decision to treat the events of Aug 30 and Sept 1 on Constitution Avenue, Islamabad, as a terrorism-related offence.

There should also be no doubt that anti-terrorism courts were created to deal with militancy and terrorism, not political struggles between an incumbent government and its political opponents.

Also read: ATC issues non-bailable arrest warrants for Imran, Qadri

Perhaps Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would have done well to remember that he himself was once upon a time, in 2000, convicted on a terrorism charge in a political dispute: the failed sacking of the then army chief Pervez Musharraf which triggered the coup of October 1999. But the prime minister has preferred to forget personal and political history — and chosen, instead, to embark on a course of events that is both preposterous and shockingly ill-advised.

Consider the backdrop to Wednesday’s move by the anti-terrorism court. At the Rahim Yar Khan PTI rally only days earlier, Imran Khan had given the one concession that was needed for a deal on electoral reforms and an inquiry into the results of the May 2013 election.

The PTI chief dropped his demand that the prime minister resign or temporarily stand down while a time-bound investigation into allegations of electoral fraud was carried out.

After that, there really was no hurdle for the government to quickly and seriously engage the PTI in talks again. But the government seems to allow emotion to overrule common sense far too often.

With the threat to the government’s survival having receded significantly but Mr Khan seemingly determined to remain a distraction, as with the planned Nov 30 rally in Islamabad, the PML-N appears to believe that now is the time to intimidate the PTI.

Yes, crimes were committed on Aug 30 and Sept 1. Yes, property was damaged, police were attacked and parliament nearly desecrated. Yes, Imran Khan did urge the protesters to storm the so-called red zone and enter Constitution Avenue. But they were political acts and the violence was politically motivated too — none of it met any acceptable definition of terrorism.

Contrast instead the government’s muted reaction to the June Model Town incident in which police action led to the deaths of some of the supporters of PAT chief Tahirul Qadri.

A judicial inquiry laid bare the facts and also made clear where responsibility lay. But no one has been put on trial and the Punjab government is doing its best to ensure the initial inquiry report does not lead to further damage for the government.

Model Town was not terrorism, but the Aug 30 and Sept 1 events on Constitution Avenue are: does not that lay bare the contradiction in the government’s dealing with crimes committed against its political enemies and crimes committed by those enemies? The government needs to back down.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2014