ANOTHER day, and another dharna at D-Chowk comes to a somewhat inconclusive end. In recent memory, this is the third such sit-in to take place, the previous two being the culmination of Tahirul Qadri’s 2013 ‘Long march’ and then the Imran Khan/ Tahirul Qadri joint venture of 2014.

When compared to those relatively well-choreographed mega events, this one was an ugly and lacklustre affair indeed. The speakers and participants were all men, as opposed to the mixed gatherings of Tahirul Qadri and Imran Khan. Conspicuous by their absence were the song and dance numbers, though the lack of colour was somewhat compensated for by the colourful language of the Mumtaz Qadri supporters who had no issues in hurling abuse in the same sentence as expressing their love for religion.

There were some moments of levity, of course. One moment that will forever be etched on the minds of Pakistani social media users is the epic sight of the participants being exhorted to hurl their chappals at a helicopter passing overhead. They do so, and when the helicopter passes on by the crowd erupts in cheers as the speaker informs them that their slippers (hawai chappals?) in fact caused the helicopter to flee.

It’s hilarious, until you realise that they actually believe this, such is the level of dangerous delusion. In terms of the duration to destruction ratio, this dharna certainly caused more property damage in a shorter period of time than the previous two did, which is to be expected when you consider the nature of the participants and the records of the dharna leadership. Oh and despite Chaudhry Nisar’s angry assertions that those responsible for the damage will be brought to book, I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for that to actually happen.

But one similarity between this sit-in and the 2013 Tahirul Qadri sit-in is that both dispersed without actually achieving any of their stated goals. Just as Qadri was fobbed off by empty promises and agreements not worth the paper they were written on, Qadri’s supporters also were given an empty ‘Mubarak ho’ moments before being sent on their way.

To add insult to injury, theirs was not even a written agreement (at least as far as Chaudhry Nisar is concerned) and even the points that were apparently conceded were a far cry from the original demands.

Compared to other sit-ins, this was a lacklustre affair.

Take the agreement that the blasphemy law would not be amended for example: there is no indication that this or any other government has the will to make such an amendment in the first place.

Then there’s a point about ‘peaceful protesters’ not being charged or detained. Again, this is a moot point as ‘peaceful’ protesters would not have charges against them in the first place.

The third point, regarding no leniency towards those convicted of blasphemy is also a non-starter for obvious reasons and is as inconsequential as point four, which calls for the removal of ‘innocent’ persons from the Fourth Schedule. Point five relates to the government ‘considering’ withdrawing cases against the ulema (as empty as it sounds) and point six, regarding the ulema approaching Pemra to get ‘obscene’ programmes banned concedes a right any citizen of Pakistan already has. The final point, dealing with the ulema giving recommendations for the enforcement of Nizam-i-Mustafa, will at most lead to the formation of another committee.

Conspicuously, there is not a single mention of Mumtaz Qadri in any of these points, which is ironic when you consider that the beatification of Salmaan Taseer’s murderer was the stated reason for the march and sit-in in the first place.

That’s because these Barelvi ulema used Qadri as a lever to try and consolidate their political support and shore up their credentials against other challengers within the Barelvi religio-political firmament and also to head off challenges to their domain from Deobandi politico-religious groups.

But the protests have also exposed rifts within the Barelvi movement, with certain groups opting out of the sit-in entirely while others, like the Sunni Tehreek, have used it as an opportunity to display their street power in Karachi. Once the emptiness of the ‘gains’ made becomes apparent, it is likely that the uneasy alliance will once against fall victim to infighting as the stakeholders squabble over a shrinking pie.

In the bigger picture, the latching onto the blasphemy issue is also an attempt at providing the Barelvi movement with a unique selling proposition so as to prevent the haemorrhaging of support to the better funded Deobandi groups, who have been making inroads into traditionally Barelvi areas for some time now.

Whether any of this actually works out for them is an open question, but when we think back on this abortive dharna, the most compelling image will be of a crowd hurling sandals at a helicopter, only to have the same sandals land back on their own heads.

The writer is a journalist.

Twitter: @zarrarkhuhro

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2016