TAXILA: Former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has said that politics of dharnas should be abandoned to save the country from becoming a banana republic.

Addressing a press conference at the Kohistan Secretariat on Saturday, Chaudhry Nisar cautioned that if the politics of sit-ins continued mobs would become strong enough to “rule the country”.

He was of the view that all political parties, the media, the army and other institutions needed to come together to find a way to end the problem. He said a precedent had been set where all powerful groups, some with considerable militant power, staged sit-ins and lay siege to Islamabad. “This does not happen in democratic countries,” Mr Khan said.

He claimed that democracy was facing a threat because of such politics, adding that he was not against protests as they were part of democracy but protests should not interrupt routine life in the country.

Referring to the 2014 sit-in staged by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), he said the interior ministry was not ready to permit that sit-in, but then prime minister Nawaz Sharif allowed it by overruling his decision.

In reply to a question, he said that police and FC officials were capable of confronting protesters at Faizabad Interchange, but the present interior minister’s incompetence led to failure of the operation against the protesters.

“This was not the first sit-in in Islamabad and the only difference was that the previous interior minister stood by his administration,” he said.

Responding to a question, he said no casualty took place outside his home in Rawalpindi during the latest sit-in. “Not a single person was hurt outside my residence,” Mr Khan claimed, adding that he did not believe in politics of violence as politicians were supposed to be agents of peace.

Terming the present political situation critical for the PML-N, he asked the party leadership to avoid confrontation with institutions in the best interest of the party’s survival.

“I am steadfast in my stance. I believe we should not target the judiciary and the army as this is not in the interest of the party,” the PML-N leader said.

He cautioned the PML-N leadership that if it continued on its present course, the party’s performance in the coming general elections would be badly affected.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2017