IRRESPECTIVE of the ultimate success or failure of the move, Pir Pagara Syed Sibghatullah Rashadi deserves credit and appreciation for dispatching a delegation, headed by former Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani, to meet Leader of the Opposition Mian Shahbaz Sharif in Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore. After the meeting, Durrani told the media that Pir Pagara sent them with a four-point agenda and they conveyed an important message to Shahbaz Sharif.
With rising political tension in the country, there is widespread concern that things are heading towards a serious deadlock. Patriotic circles have all along been emphasizing the need for national reconciliation but in the absence of a ceasefire both by the government and the opposition the cherished objective seems to be a far off cry. Important personalities, in the past, floated the idea of national dialogue but no one took practical measures for the purpose despite the fact that talks offer the possibility to resolve even the most complicated problems and conflicts. In this backdrop, Pir Pagara has done well by taking the first practical step towards holding a Grand National Dialogue and he has approached the right person in this regard. Shahbaz Sharif has a reputation of a strong proponent of reconciliation and he has done this even at the risk of annoying some party circles. He rightly believes that if dialogue has to be held after resignations by the opposition then why not now and as per media accounts of the meeting the attitude and response of Shahbaz was not negative. According to Mr Durrani, Shahbaz told him he was willing to go to any extent for the sake of unity in the country but questioned what role he can play from the jail. There is also an impression that the politics of confrontation would have been avoided in case Shahbaz was allowed to play his role as Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and not put behind bars under the garb of accountability. Durrani has also declared that he was ready to meet other opposition leaders including Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Maryam Nawaz and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and the situation demands he should do so without loss of further time but with full homework. He has a point when he says no one would emerge winner in the process of confrontation as winners and losers would both stand defeated in the end. This message needs to be fully understood by the two sides, which are bent upon raising the ante.
