Senior Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Ahsan Iqbal on Monday claimed that both he—as then-interior minister—and then-prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had attempted to discourage Lt. Gen. (retd.) Faiz Hameed from becoming a signatory to the Faizabad dharna agreement inked between the government and the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) in 2017.
Speaking with anchor Hamid Mir on Geo News, he said the former Army officer had insisted on becoming a signatory by arguing that the TLP would not accept the accord if he weren’t a guarantor. Recalling that he had relayed the contents of the agreement to then-prime minister Abbasi, he said: “When I read out the contents of the agreement to the prime minister, he also suggested that it would be better that general sahib didn’t sign it.”
Similarly, he said, he had urged Hameed to reconsider, noting that it “wouldn’t be good for him and his institution to sign the agreement given its political nature.” However, he added, Hameed had insisted that the TLP would not honor the agreement if he were not signatory to it.
The Faizabad dharna is once again in the limelight due to the Supreme Court taking up review pleas against its verdict on it. After a majority of the petitioners sought to withdraw their applications, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa issued an order offering a fresh opportunity for all parties to submit affidavits regarding the TLP sit-in. The ruling states that any person or party could submit evidence and arguments related to the case by Oct. 27 prior to the next hearing on Nov. 1.