Maulana Rizvi, in his late 60s using a wheelchair, represents the rise of a new and more radical Bralvi sectarian movement.
A firebrand Muslim cleric notorious for his vitriolic tongue and named in extremist watch list has virtually brought the Pakistani state to its knees. A highly controversial deal brokered by the military has brought an end to the three-week siege of Islamabad that many describe as abject surrender to the zealots.
A beleaguered civilian government has signed on the dotted line conceding all the demands of the cleric that included removal of the federal law minister accused of committing blasphemy. The administration even agreed to compensate the militants who were involved in attacks on law enforcement agencies and destroyed public properties.
There has not been any instance in the country’s history of such humiliating capitulation by the state. The abject submission to the lawbreakers and the non-state actors has undermined the legitimacy of the civil administration and has raised questions about the country’s battle against violent religious extremism. The whole episode has further empowered radical Islamic and sectarian groups.
It all started three weeks ago when a few hundred followers of a radical Sunni Muslim cleric of Bralvi sect, Maulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi marched on Islamabad to protest against alleged move by the government to temper with anti-blasphemy laws that had turned into a highly emotive religious issue in the country.
Maulana Rizvi in his late 60s using a wheelchair, is a prayer leader at a Lahore mosque who earned notoriety in 2011 when he publically defended the assassination of Slaman Taseer. The governor of Punjab was killed by his official security guard because Taseer had defended a Christian woman charged with blasphemy. Maulana Rizvi and other hardline clerics hailed the assassin as a “soldier of Islam”. The court later sentenced the guard Mumtaz Qadri to death.
Rizvi represents the rise of a new and more radical Bralvi sectarian movement. The majority of Pakistani Muslims belong to this sect which had generally been considered “moderate” compared to those belonging to the hardline Deobandi and Wahabi school of Islam. But radical clerics like Maulana Rizvi have turned to militancy publicly espousing violence in the name of their narrow view of religion. The movement has drawn huge support among the less-educated population.
Maulana Rizvi has formed a new political outfit by the name of Tehreek Labbaik, or TLY, whose members spearheaded the Islamabad siege. The party announced its appearance in the electoral politics early this year by putting up candidates in the recently held National Assembly by-elections in Lahore and Peshawar.
In both constituencies, the party candidates received a significant number of votes; eating into the support base of traditional mainstream religious political parties. The group gained momentum after Qadri’s execution last year. The group is now planning to go into the 2018 general elections using the highly sensitive blasphemy issue to mobilise votes.
It was certainly not a spontaneous move when the protesters marched into Islamabad travelling all the way from Lahore. There was a clear plan behind the siege. The sit-in seemed to be a part of its election campaign. Because of the fear of blowback, the government refrained from using force to remove the protesters.
It was mainly the weakness of the administration and an increasingly divided state authority that gave the zealots complete impunity. Although the hard-line clerics failed to draw any significant public support on the issue, some vested political interests helped keep the matter alive. The inaction of the government encouraged other religious groups to join in the protest with the number swelling to thousands.
The repeated extension of deadlines and seeking the help of religious leaders to end the standoff demonstrated the helplessness of the administration in a midst of a political crisis. Taking advantage of the paralysis of the administration, the protesters went on a rampage in other parts of the country too blocking the main highways and hindering cross-country transport.
It was worse in Punjab where the homes of ministers and leaders of the ruling party were attacked. It all seemed well-orchestrated. The flames of bigotry sweeping across the country created a dangerous confluence of religion and politics. The situation got worse after the military leadership refused to deploy troops in the capital and instead advised the government to find a negotiated settlement to end the crisis. The military’s decision to stay neutral in the crisis limited the government’s options.
Indeed, the deal pushed by the military and resignation of the Law Minister have ended the protests that had swept across the country but it has also exposed various fault lines that are worsening the existential crisis Pakistan faces. While a weak and bitterly divided civilian government is mainly responsible for the mess, the civil-military conflict and the different centres of power working against each other compounded the crisis.
The country is now back to normal but the sense of victory has given further stridency to a rising Bralvi militancy. Not only will it add fuel to violent sectarian extremism, it will also cause the space for moderate political parties to shrink.
Zahid Hussain, Journalist and author of “The Scorpion’s Tail: The Relentless Rise of Islamic Militants in Pakistan-And How It Threatens America.”