Government cannot face men of the cloth

The religious chieftains are up in arms against the government and they have threatened to set the Thames on fire if the government failed to take back the Women Protection laws. Maulana Fazlur Rehman had, a few days back, taunted the rulers that while the clerics cannot form a government of their own they are, nonetheless, fully capable of bringing it down should they so desire. The Maulana has started flexing his muscle. The JUI(F) Chief did manage to rally round to his cause the other day a fair number of clerics belonging to almost all the religious parties worth their salt the other day and fixed 27 March 2016 as a deadline for the government to withdraw the controversial piece of legislation by then or otherwise face their agitation. The religious elders demand that the Council for Islamic Ideology be consulted in the matter though there are many in this country who would not buy this argument of the ulema as they doubt the very credentials of some members of this Council to give opinion on any religious issue. The insiders believe that the rulers cannot afford to incur the wrath of the religious forces in the country. The very thought of mass agitation of the clerics sends shivers down their spine, therefore, they would try to hit it off with them by finding find a middle ground and bring them round to accepting a changed draft of the Bill under reference.
Odds are that the government instead of taking on men of the cloth on this issue would try to water down the Women Protection laws by carrying out amendments in them so as to make them palatable to the religious bigwigs.
POSTSCRIPT:In their heart of hearts all those political leaders of the country who are at odds with Altaf Hussain must be happy over the split in the ranks of the MQM. The urdu-speaking people of Sind, by and large, are civilised and patriotic, to boot. If their leadership falls into the hands of leaders enjoying impeccable financial integrity and possessed with good qualities of head and heart it would be extremely good not only for them but for the country too.