Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry Sunday took to task his own party lawmaker, PTI Senator Ejaz Ahmed Chaudhry, for visiting and presenting flowers to Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Saad Hussain Rizvi following the latter’s release from jail in November terming the move as “absurd”.
The TLP was linked to the gory incident by users on social media, but the group distanced itself from the lynching and condemned it.
When asked about some government leaders embracing the TLP despite its violent protests in October leaving a number of policemen martyred in Punjab, Fawad singularly criticised Ejaz.
“I think the manner in which Ejaz Chaudhry sahab met the TLP leader was an absurd act. Why didn’t he visit the homes of the policemen who were martyred?”
Senator Ejaz had met TLP chief Rizvi last month as a “gesture of goodwill” and to congratulate him on his release from jail. Pictures of Ejaz hugging and presenting a bouquet to Rizvi were widely shared on social media.
The meeting had come after the TLP and the federal government reached an agreement on October 31 after many rounds of talks and two weeks of clashes which left seven policemen and a number of TLP workers dead.
The agreement was kept secret, but leaked information suggested consensus on removing the party from the list of banned organisations, Rizvi’s release and setting TLP workers free that were held under various charges including anti-terrorism.
Commenting over Sialkot lynching of a Sri Lankan national, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has urged federal and provincial governments to work together to curb extremism in the country by jointly implementing the code of conduct given in the National Action Plan (NAP) and review the action plan to fill gaps in its execution.
The minister’s comments come during TV talk show on Saturday amid countrywide outrage after a mob comprising hundreds of protesters, including the employees of the factory Kumara was the manager of, tortured him to death on Friday and later burnt his body.
Fawad acknowledged that extremism was quite “complex” issue and need a joint response.
Apparently criticising his own government’s handling of the crisis that emerged from the violent TLP protests, Fawad said “when the state does not own its martyred [security personnel], who will stand with it tomorrow?”
Speaking about the Sialkot lynching, the minister said the issue of extremism had to be tackled by all stakeholders and emphasised that the country’s education system — especially for grades 6 to 13 — needed to undergo a review. He also attributed the failure in tackling the problem to widespread divisions among political parties.
He recalled that political decisions to curb extremism had already been taken in the form of the National Action Plan, saying until the state reclaimed its right to use power from private individuals, “we will not be able to come out of the quagmire that we are sinking into”.
Referring to the shrinking space for discussion in the country, Fawad regretted that scholars who used to speak against extremism had been martyred or forced to flee Pakistan. “So who will give the opposing narrative when the government cannot enforce the right of life?” he argued.
Asked whether Kumara’s ghastly murder would be the “turning point” in Pakistan’s fight against extremism, the information minister said the problem would not end by simply hanging or imprisoning the culprits involved in the lynching.
“The problem is bigger than that. The problem is that you are producing rabid dogs such as these on a daily basis. How will you stop that?” he said, adding that the state will have to “put locks on the tongues and enforce the law on the people who are the reason behind these issues”.
