Dharnas down development: Nisar

TAXILA: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan Saturday said it was also the Pakistan Army’s duty to stop sit-ins adding that he had told former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif that targeting or criticising the armed forces would cause significant damage to the PML-N in the next elections.

Talking to the reporters here, Nisar suggested that all political parties, the media, the army and other institutions should come together to end the politics of sit-ins across the country so that the country could move ahead.

He said if the country was to move forward, then the politics of sit-ins should be abandoned otherwise mobs will rule the country. He said a precedent seemed to have been set where powerful groups, with some of them having considerable militant power, stage a sit-in and lay siege to the federal capital.

“If we have to stop Pakistan from turning into a banana republic, then all political parties need to drop the politics of sit-ins. This does not happen in democratic countries,” Nisar noted. He said there were two sit-ins in Islamabad — one by the PAT and another by the PTI —during his tenure and he had passed strict instructions to the authorities and protestors about the sensitivity of Faizabad Interchange.

“I faced a lot of backlash against my decision to allow the protestors to proceed to D-Chowk. However, if they had occupied Faizabad Interchange, it would have completely paralysed the twin cities,” Nisar said.

Nisar said he was not against sit-ins, as this was the basic right in a democratic country, but if a sit-in disturbed the life of ordinary citizens, then it should not be allowed. “What is the fault of poor laborers, who have to go to work to earn for their family or of people commuting between the twin cities daily,” Nisar asked.

The former minister said he had discussed Faizabad sit-in with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and conveyed him the concerns of the twin cities’ residents. “I will not disclose what I’d advised PM Abbasi since the sit-in has ended and I do not want to talk about the decisions taken during the sit-in either,” he added.

Nisar said the police and FC officials in Pakistan were fully capable of confronting protestors. He said during the police crackdown on the PTI protestors in 2014 the only difference was that the interior minister was standing with the police. “Democracy is in danger because of sit-in politics. Continuous protests would allow just about anyone to have their demands met no matter how unreasonable. It is my humble appeal that if the country has to move forward, then protests must be stopped,” Nisar said.

When asked if the government will be able to complete its tenure, he said: “You should put this question to the government, as I am not in the government anymore.” When asked if he agreed to the PML-N’s criticism of Panama Papers verdict announced by the Supreme Court, he said: “I am still steadfast in my stance; I believe we should not target the entire judiciary. Moreover, the army should also not be targeted.”

Nisar said he had advised Nawaz Sharif in the last meeting against targeting or criticizing the armed forces, as it would cause significant damage to the PML-N during the next elections. The former interior minister also refused to comment on a statement of Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rasheed. “This person changes his loyalty every minute; please stop giving importance to such people,” he told journalists.