Of the blurring line between the rulers and the ruled

Delawar Jan

PESHAWAR: The line between the masses, their representatives and rulers is blurring. People stage rallies on the streets and block roads to protest over problems and demand their resolution, but now their representatives, who are elected to solve their problems and who are in power corridors, also block roads.

The people have streets as the forum to protest and their representatives have assemblies where they seek and suggest solutions to people’s problems. And if the representatives belong to the ruling party, they have more options than just raising the issues in the assembly.

However, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members of the provincial assembly seem to be unaware about the forum they are supposed to use. On Thursday, three MPAs along with their supporters blocked the Sher Shah Suri Road to protest against power and gas loadshedding and alleged ban on flour supply to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by the government of the Punjab. Arif Yousaf, Fazl Elahi and Arbab Jahandad Khan encouraged young PTI workers to launch sit-in outside Peshawar Press Club on the busy road.

Strangely, police did not try to dislodge the MPAs and their supporters from the road that remained blocked for at least one and a half hour. Instead, they facilitated them in halting the flow of traffic by placing stones and bricks on the road at the square near the State Bank. The police also stretched barbed wires across the road in front of the press club building to abet the protesters.

“We used no force to disperse the protesters,” said a two-star police official, Muhammad Wali. “We negotiated with them with the help of journalists and other people to persuade them to open the road,” he said, standing on the blocked road. The officer argued police were there to provide security to the MPAs and protesters. “You know terror attacks are a threat,” he added.

Sher Shah Suri is a narrow but major road for private and public transport in the city. The Khyber Road that runs in front of the Corps Commander residence has already been banned for public transport. The traffic was diverted to the crowded Shooba Bazaar that caused traffic jams.

MPA Arif Yousaf said they had been protesting for the sake of people. Their action, though, caused problems to people. The PTI MPA said the protest was against the federal government against excessive power and gas load-shedding and ban on flour supply to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from the Punjab. “We don’t want to create problems for the people by blocking the road. Though it remained blocked for an hour, we reopened it,” he said.

Are roads a forum for you to highlight your demands? The MPA first stonewalled the question. However, when the question was repeated, he said they had raised the issue in the provincial assembly and would continue to bring it up. “We have decided to start every session of the provincial assembly by taking up the issue of load-shedding,” he added.

The MPAs and the disruptive protesters had full backing of their government, according to Arif Yousaf. The PTI chief minister will join future protests. “We will besiege the Wapda House to pressure them to end excessive load-shedding,” said MPA Fazl Elahi. “There seems to be no other way,” he said in a threatening tone.

The people who suffered had many questions. Why did they not protest outside the Chief Minister Secretariat? Why did they not block road leading to the Chief Minister Secretariat? Why did they not launch their protest in front of the Wapda House?

Senior lawyer Latif Afridi said while they had the right to protest and assembly, the law did not allow them to block the road. “It does not make sense to launch protest against the federal government on a road in Peshawar,” he said. “If they really want to protest against Nawaz Sharif, they should do it in Punjab,” he added.

People in Peshawar, he said, were already in trouble and this protest added to it. He said it was not the way to vent disapproval over load-shedding and suggested the provincial government to take up the issue at the right forum. “Talk to the federal government or launch protest in the National Assembly where the PTI has representation,” he said. “Roads are not the forum the rulers should use,” he suggested.