ON Wednesday, as the ‘final’ deadline set by the Pakistan Awami Tehreek chairman for meeting his demands expired, a group of lawyers approached a police station in Lahore for the registration of an FIR against the violent action at the PAT headquarters on June 17.

The lawyers, who carried a high court order clearing the way for the registration of the report, were confronted with the same stalling tactics that had been employed to deny the PAT its demand thus far.

This signified no progress in an affair that has led Dr Qadri to march on the capital to stage a prolonged sit-in. PAT’s call for an FIR was generally termed a fair one, even when some of its other demands have been dismissed as unreasonable by those who realise the importance of persisting with the system.

There is agreement that a gross violation of the law was committed around the Qadri compound on June 17 and those responsible for the brute use of force should be held accountable.

From the outset, it was believed that the Punjab government had landed itself in an extremely dangerous situation and it would struggle to come out of it without too much damage.

But as the government tried to delay the lodging of the FIR, one logical view was that it was also trying to delay the inevitable until it was firmly and finally compelled to strike a compromise.

The thinking was that the FIR was enough of a concession to help defuse the situation, and the unavoidable risks it posed could be dealt with later. In the event, the delay emboldened the PAT marchers and added rigidity to their already strong agenda.

The time gained by the government by stalling was the time spent in speculation.

And while in recent days some excerpts from the two forums assigned to investigate the unfortunate occurrence have been leaked they do little to lift the mist surrounding the actual June incident.

But whatever little has escaped the official grasp does seem to corroborate the first impressions about the FIR.

They point to the urgent need for an impartial investigation by the police before a trial, involving the stiffest challenge faced by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in his entire career as a tough unyielding administrator, begins. Notwithstanding the final outcome, it is a lesson in how essential rules are and how they must be adhered to thoroughly.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2014