Faizabad dharna judgement.

THE Supreme Court's verdict on the Faizabad dharna, delivered on Wednesday, is a searing indictment of state institutions and oversight authorities who have time and again failed the people of this country, either by exceeding their mandate or by abdicating their duty.

It was a judgement uncompromising in its insistence that people's fundamental rights as guaranteed by the Constitution must always be paramount; that authority is a sacred trust which must be exercised transparently; that no one is above the law.

Indeed, it is precisely what needs to be said at a time when democracy in many ways seems to be fraying in this country.

The Faizabad dharna took place in November 2017, and its repercussions continue to linger. For 20 days, life in Islamabad and Rawalpindi was paralysed as TLP protesters blocked the interchange between the two cities, inciting hatred, resorting to violence and urging insurrection against the sitting government. The entire country was transfixed by the chaos playing out on their television screens.

But, as the apex court has implicitly recognised in its judgement, the Faizabad dharna did not take place in isolation.

This shameful episode was an event foretold, incubating since long in the many distortions of democratic principles.

It was the culmination of years of political engineering, manipulation of public opinion and the use of force to crush peaceful protests even as blatantly illegal, violent hate-mongers met no consequences.

The ongoing suppression of the media, denounced in the verdict as 'unconstitutional and illegal', is part of the same playbook.

Underlying these time-tested machinations is a deep-seated contempt for the people, an indifference to their legitimate expectations of security...