Faizabad sit-in commission summons Shehbaz on Jan 3

PML-N president called in as he was the incumbent chief minister of Punjab during the sit-in

ISLAMABAD:

The Faizabad sit-in commission on Monday summoned former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif on January 3 to record his statement in the case.

According to sources, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president has been called as he was the chief minister of Punjab during the sit-in.

In November last year, the federal government announced a three-member commission to identify those who planned, financed, and supported the sit-in at Islamabad’s Faizabad area in 2017.

The commission would further recommend legal action against the planners and executors of the protest which disrupted lives in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad between November 6 and November 27, 2017.

The protest

The TLP, then led by Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi, had staged the sit-in in protest against the changes made in the lawmakers’ oath, affirming their belief that the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the last messenger of God.

The 21-day-long sit-in by religious protesters at Islamabad's Faizabad Interchange had forced the government to accept Tehreek-e-Labbaik’s demands after an operation to break up the sit-in went awry and sparked violent protests across the country.

Read Faizabad sit-in cost police Rs146m

As a result of the protest, the then PML-N government had to sack its law minister Zahid Hamid. The Supreme Court (SC) had taken a suo motu notice of the sit-in on November 21, 2017.

Previous developments in Faizabad Dharna case

Later, a division bench led by Justice Qazi Faez Isa on February 6, 2019, unveiled its verdict in the sit-in case, criticizing the role of intelligence agencies in the saga. Soon after assuming office as the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) in September this year, Justice Isa listed for hearing the petitions that had been filed against the SC’s February 2019 verdict.

The verdict had directed the intelligence agencies not to exceed their constitutional mandates.

It should be noted that in April 2019, an intelligence agency challenged the SC’s verdict in the Faizabad sit-in case, saying that it would adversely affect the morale of the armed forces.

Separately, on December 30, the probe panel also called former director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt-Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed for the second time to record his statement this week.