Faizabad Sit-In Agreement
KARACHI: Former interior minister and senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader, Ahsan Iqbal, has disclosed that retired Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed insisted on becoming a signatory to the Faizabad sit-in agreement with the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in 2017.
Speaking in ‘Capital Talk’ program hosted by Hamid Mir, Iqbal revealed that both he and then-Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi opposed the idea of a senior army officer signing the agreement.
However, Gen Faiz insisted that the protesting TLP would not accept the accord unless he became part of it as a guarantor. Iqbal mentioned that he had been in contact with PM Abbasi during the finalization of the agreement.
He recalled, “When I read out the contents of the agreement to the prime minister, he also suggested that it would be better if General Sahib didn’t sign it.”
Iqbal continued, “I also conveyed to General Sahib that it wouldn’t be good for him and his institution to sign the agreement given its political nature.” He explained that Gen Faiz had conveyed that the TLP would not honor the agreement unless he served as a guarantor.
Last week, former PM Abbasi described the Faizabad protest sit-in as the “darkest chapter” in Pakistan’s history and called for action against those responsible if there was evidence and a formal complaint filed against them.
In the same context, Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa recently resumed hearings on Faizabad sit-in review petitions after a four-year hiatus.
The apex court issued a detailed order from the September 26 hearing, offering all parties the opportunity to submit affidavits related to the 20-day sit-in staged by the TLP against the then PML-N-led government in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
The next hearing is scheduled for November 1.
