DR Tahirul Qadri’s long march and sit-in was senseless, directionless and merciless. Was it of any political or personal gain to Dr Qadri and his followers?

I am sure that the mammoth crowd had no clue as to what Articles 62, 63 were. They had no concept of what the functions of the Election Commission of Pakistan were and the fact that what difference would it make if elections were held 90 days after the dissolution of the current assemblies instead of 60 days (as if extra 30 days would enable angels to contest the elections).

The crowd, the followers of Dr Qadri, students of seminaries and their families were there shivering in the cold and rain because they had been asked to do so. They had been benefited by the Tehrik-i-Minhajul Quran and now it was their turn to repay. I have no issue with that too for the people at all times and all over this planet are the same.

When frustrated to a certain point, their psyche is in such a state that they can jump in blazing fire or chilled sea if asked by the leader, albeit fake.

My only disgust is the mention of sacred name of Imam Hussain (RAA) time and again and comparing the agitating crowd as lashkar-I-Hussaini while calling the government and its people as Yazid and Yazidi lashkar. The event was compared to marka-i-Karabla.

He called the final day of his agitation as Yaum-i-Ashur. What does Dr Qadri think? Does he think that Imam Husain (RAA) is a character from fiction and that the event of Karbala is a story from Firdausi’s Shahnama, Tilsm-i-Hoshruba or Alf Laila?

Comparing such politically motivated and agitated crowd to ‘lashkar-i-Hussaini is unfair and unacceptable. An eyesore was the scene where Dr Qadri and government representatives were embracing each other, patting and joking.

Dr Qadri, who claims to be a righteous man and religious scholar, should be condemned for using this sacred name and event for his personal gains.

We are financially poor. We are intellectually poor. We are morally poor and now this sort of political drama will make us spiritually poor too.

Let us not discuss what the collateral damage was during this long march and sit-in: the monetary loss to the country, crash of stock exchange, participants falling sick and inconvenience to the people living in Islamabad for their views would never be recorded or reported.

SYED JAVAID HASAN Karachi