Out of nowhere, Tahir-ul-Qadri appears to be Pakistan’s latest political force-to-be-reckoned with. An Islamic scholar based in Canada, Qadri had made the decision to move out of Pakistan years ago. His sporadic return to Pakistan in December and his entry into local politics has left an-already confused political scenario in the country baffled.
Rallying under the slogan “save the state, not your politics,” Qadri has made a number of scathing remarks about the current government, demanding on several occasions that it resign immediately. He has threatened to engage in a long march until the government resigns and elections are held under an interim government consisting of honest people.
Most would not have taken Qadri seriously so soon after his entry into politics, but a rally held at the Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore saw tens of thousands of attendees. To many political analysts, his growth in popularity has been nothing short of surprising.
Qadri, a law graduate, is a prominent Islamic scholar, academic, philanthropist. Although he set up a political party in 1989, he was unable to win a single seat in parliament until 2002, when he won a seat in elections generally believed to be tailor-made to suit the then-President Pervaiz Musharraf. Despite limited political success, Qadri is renowned as a peace-activist and an educationalist working under the banner of his Minhajul Quran International.
Although little is known about Qadri’s political manifesto besides his opposition to the ruling political party and all its allies in the government, Minhajul Quran International is recognized for its contributions in trying to develop interfaith harmony. Qadri was widely applauded in Pakistan and abroad when he issued a fatwa against terrorists fighting in the name of Islam. He categorically declared that Islam was a religion of peace, backing up statements with quotations from Islamic texts. He has also spoken about the compatibility of democracy in the Islamic system of government.
Qadri’s proposed long march was initially backed up by the Karachi-based party, MQM. However, the MQM has now ruled out participating in the long march, leaving Qadri’s political group isolated in its endeavor. It remains to be seen whether his attempt to move to prepone the elections will be successful. However, his timing has been the source of much debate, since his long march is just months before the scheduled general elections in Pakistan. Critics argue that this is just an attempt to destabilize democracy in a country where no elected parliament has ever completed a five year term.
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