"Everyone with a stake in the democratic system must help the maulana and his party find an honourable route back home — especially at a time when the JUI-F’s demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan is too unrealistic to deserve serious consideration.

"Those opposition leaders flanking the maulana in selective moments appear to understand how impossible the demand is. They — the politicians of the PPP and PML-N — have both a sizeable presence in parliament and sufficient interest to keep the current elected assemblies functioning.

Perhaps it would have been to everyone’s benefit had the JUI-F chief managed to retain his seat in the National Assembly in the 2018 election

"There is nothing that seems to have caused the protesters greater grievance than the perceived insult to their leader’s being ‘left out’ of parliament.

"This puts greater responsibility on the maulana’s allies sitting in parliament to prevail over him when any extreme options to target the government come up for discussion at the opposition meetings. Together with the government camp and all other visible and invisible kingmakers, these opposition politicians have to somehow remind the dharna leader about his continued relevance to the system."

Read the editorial here.