ISLAMABAD: As the senators assailed the government for mishandling the sit-in that had paralysed life in the federal capital for about three weeks, and raised questions as to who had backed and financed the protesters, Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani declared on Monday that parliament would protect, preserve and defend the Constitution and democratic system.

“Be it Musharraf or technocrat formula, we would not let anybody cause harm to the democratic system,” he said, adding that only the 1973 Constitution could keep the federation intact.

Noting that the civilian government had gone on back foot, he said parliament would try its best to assert the writ of the state that had been badly eroded.

Mr Rabbani lambasted Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal for not bothering to come and brief the Senate on the extremely significant developments where the country remained on the verge of civil war for two days, members of parliament had been attacked, the army had to be summoned and the law minister had to step down under an agreement.

Call for judicial probe into all sit-ins since 2013 to expose hidden hands

“Where is the interior minister?” he asked Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry, who sought a day for briefing the Senate on developments concerning the sit-in by a ‘politico- religious party’.

This further infuriated an already angered Rabbani who said the interior minister could reach the high court on a 15-minute notice, but chose to stay away from parliament at this critical juncture.

When the chairman was told that the Islamabad High Court had issued a contempt of court notice against the minister, he said he too could issue a “contempt of parliament notice” to him.

He said that rather the prime minister should have been here, making it clear that any meeting in Riyadh or Jeddah was not more important than what was happening in Pakistan. He said the happenings of last two days were very serious and a matter of concern for the entire nation. He lamented that some unprecedented trends were emerging which were dangerous not only for democracy and politics but also for the state of Pakistan.

Mr Rabbani observed that all political forces, intellectuals and professionals must put their heads together and collectively hammer out a national narrative to arrest these trends. He said parliament had a lead role to play in it irrespective of the government’s attitude of ignoring parliament instead of drawing strength from it.

He said it was appalling that the government chose to ignore parliament after life coming to a standstill for 22 days and the situation reaching a stage where the army chief had to intervene.

He referred to the issuance of a flawed notification calling in the army under Article 245 of the Constitution to assist the civil administration and also to the attacks on the properties of lawmakers and the incidents of kidnapping of law enforcement personnel and a complete blackout of the electronic media for 27 hours.

When the chairman was told by Talal Chaudhry that the interior minister was not in the city and was in a plane right now, he said: “You are not interested in running the system. The house is in session and the interior minister decided to leave the city. This house cannot be hostage to the interior minister. You are accountable to the house under the Constitution.”

He told a totally confused Mr Chaudhry: “This house wants to know why the army had been summoned. You better outsource the government. You are taking for granted parliament which could become a source of strength for you”.

Senator Farhatullah Babar of the PPP called for a judicial probe into all sit-ins held since 2013 to expose the hidden hands behind them.

He said sit-ins had become a regular feature of “our political landscape and instead of a lawful means to air grievances, they are now used to paralyse the state and society. Dharnas over long periods of time require huge financial and managerial resources. It is time that a judicial probe is held into all the dharnas of 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017 to expose if there were hidden hands behind them”.

He termed unwise the press release about the telephonic call of the army chief to the prime minister advising that the sit-in be handled peacefully and avoiding violence on both sides. ‘‘The term ‘both sides’ equates the sit-in people already declared terrorists by the Islamabad High Court making demands at gunpoint with a legitimate government that is constitutionally bound to protect the life, property and honour of citizens.’’

Mr Babar said the interior minister had mishandled the situation, but his error of judgement was no reason to equate the two sides — the government and protesters.

He said the army and the civilian government must speak to each other through available mechanisms, and not through the media.

In the context of protesters chanting death threats, avoidance of violence by both sides was impossible and blurred the distinction between rule by the mob and rule of the law, he said, adding that force could only be used by the state and those who had successfully carried out Raddul Fasaad knew it very well.

The senators criticised the interior minister for his refusal to take ownership of the abortive operation against the protesters and for claiming that the district administration had directly taken the initiative on the orders of the court.

A senator proposed a ban on sit-ins in future and said that those who did it should be booked for treason.

Leader of the House in the Senate Raja Zafarul Haq said the protesters had refused to leave the area even after signing the agreement till all their men taken into custody were released and the injured discharged from hospitals.

The senators took the opportunity to also demand action against those responsible for changing the Khatm-i-Nubuwat declaration and called for immediately making public the report of the committee headed by Raja Zafarul Haq.

The house was prorogued sine die without passing the 24th constitution amendment bill it had originally been convened for.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2017