“A small minority of extremists throughout the country have succeeded in bringing the entire national leadership under their manipulation.”
The weeks-long saga of violent riots in major Pakistan cities seems to have come to some closure over the past several days.
What began as protests against minor changes to an obscure Pakistani law quickly evolved into a national crisis. Almost three weeks ago, members of the ultra-conservative Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan political party took to the streets after the country’s parliament made a small amendment to the oath of office taken by policymakers upon election, which affirms the officials’ belief in the authority of the Prophet Mohammed.
Whereas the original text stated “I believe,” the amendment read “I solemnly swear.” This change was deemed unacceptable to Tehreek-e-Labbaik. Although the text was changed back almost immediately to its original wording, this was not enough for Tehreek-e-Labbaik members, who demanded that those responsible for the amendment be removed from their positions.
Protests escalated and eventually saw thousands of protesters—often armed—daily gathering to block the Faizabad interchange along the main highway linking the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Activists erected tents so as to maintain a constant presence at demonstration sites. Clashes between participants and security forces quickly turned bloody, with several reported instances of police officers suffering serious injuries. By November 15, Pakistani media had reported the deployment of 4,000 security personnel to combat protesters.
Although the text was changed back almost immediately to its original wording, this was not enough for Tehreek-e-Labbaik members, who demanded that those responsible for the amendment be removed from their positions.
After nearly a week of clashes and no signs of protesters abating, the government organized a massive “clearance operation” on November 25 involving 8,500 police and military. A major battle ensued, with police firing rubber bullets and other non-lethal crowd disbursement weapons and protesters retaliating by throwing rocks. At least one officer was killed along with one rioter. Over 200 people were injured during the course of the operation.
Despite the efforts to put down the protests, Tehreek-e-Labbaik remained relentless. The government finally capitulated on November 27. Law Minister Zahid Hamid, the official responsible for overseeing changes to Pakistani legislation, resigned.
The legal mop-up of the crisis is still underway. While Pakistani courts have granted the release of dozens of protesters detained over the weeks-long crisis, those who will be sent to prison and those who will be granted bail are still being sorted out.
For the Western observer, it may seem rather extreme for a political party to have gone through all this trouble over a rather minor modification to the language of an official oath.
But when taken in the context of the political environment of Pakistan, it really is not very surprising at all.
Extremist groups in Pakistan use the religious laws as tools to advance their agenda. This applies especially to anti-blasphemy laws, a prohibition that carries the death penalty. Groups like Tehreek-e-Labbaik capitalize on these rules to attack political opponents and undermine their religiosity. They are also utilized as the basis for advancing certain policies such as online censorship and prohibiting political opposition. Any attempt to modify or amend in any way the religious statutes already enshrined in the law is essentially an attack on the platform from which these groups operate politically.
The resignation of Hamid is unfortunately just the latest in the signs that Pakistani leadership is regularly giving in to extremism in the country. The highly publicized recent release of Hafiz Saeed, cleric founder of the terror group Lashkar-e-Taib, was another indication of the pressure Pakistan regularly gives in to when determining policy.
Sadly, this trend seems to now be part of the political landscape in Pakistan. A small minority of extremists throughout the country have succeeded in bringing the entire national leadership under their manipulation. In the words of Shuja Nawaz of the Atlantic Council, “Political parties are becoming increasingly beholden to right-wing extremist groups with whom they’ve had political alliances…When push comes to shove, people are willing to make deals with them. They make a political ruckus and they get much more leverage than they actually have in Pakistani society at the moment.”