islamabad: Pakistan is witnessing a serious law and order situation in the capital as supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) held massive protests in Islamabad demanding the release of their leader from prison and the independence of the judiciary. Police fired tear gas at protesters amid tight security, blocked all roads, suspended mobile services and imposed Section 144.
On Saturday, Pakistan Army troops were deployed in Islamabad to ensure security ahead of the protest called by Imran Khan at D-Chowk after clashes between the PTI and the police the previous day. The army would remain in the city from October 5 to 17 to maintain law and order for the upcoming SCO Summit, which will be attended by foreign delegations, including India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
The call for protest was made by the 71-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician, who has been imprisoned in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail for over a year. He asked his followers to gather at the capital’s emblematic venue to register a protest. It is the same place where Imran staged a sit-in for 126 days in 2014 against alleged electoral fraud.
What is happening in Islamabad?
Police resorted to firing tear gas at protesters while PTI workers threw stones while clashing with law enforcement, according to Geo News. As many as 17 PTI workers have been charged with terrorism, which also includes anti-terrorism provisions, along with 250 unidentified workers.
Life in the capital and neighboring Rawalpindi remained disrupted for the second day in a row with mobile network services suspended and major roads and entry points still blocked by containers, according to Dawn. Hundreds of PTI activists, including senior leaders, had gathered at multiple locations in Islamabad on Friday, defying heavy police blockades and road closures.
As PTI workers, led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, headed to D-Chowk, Home Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that no one would be allowed to violate the law and damage properties in the name of a protest. Naqvi said that some elements intend to march to Islamabad in the name of political protest.
Pakistani ministers blame PTI for ‘creating chaos’
Naqvi said on Saturday that a total of 120 Afghan nationals were arrested in the last 48 hours, 41 of them “caught” in yesterday’s clashes between the PTI and Islamabad police. Meanwhile, as the PTI plans to hold a protest at Lahore’s Minar-i-Pakistan, the Punjab government issued orders for deployment of army troops, allowing it to take certain measures to “maintain law and order”.
Meanwhile, Pakistani government ministers lashed out at the PTI, accusing it of trying to create chaos in the country, particularly during visits by foreign dignitaries. “The PTI is a terrorist party and has nothing to do with politics. This disruptive group always opposes national development. The prisoner of Adiala jail [Imran Khan] “it seeks chaos, destruction and bloodshed,” Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said in a statement.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said: “We have to show Pakistan’s soft and positive identity to the world; “The opposition can carry out its protest in the plenary session of parliament.” He also recalled that the PTI staged a sit-in when the Chinese president (Xi Jinping) was due to visit the country in 2014.
Imran Khan’s message
On October 2, Imran Khan sent a message from Adiala Jail, where he is currently imprisoned, accusing Pakistan’s Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa of “ruining” the country’s Constitution and Supreme Court, as well as crush the PTI and ensure Nawaz Sharif’s acquittal in all cases. . “Now all of them (coalition partners) are conspiring to ensure an erroneous Supreme Court verdict that they can then use to ‘legally’ force our members to vote for the unconstitutional amendments they want,” he said.
More than 100 PTI workers have been arrested, including Imran Khan’s sisters Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan. Imran Khan’s party held three major political events, including a rally in Islamabad and Lahore, and a protest in Rawalpindi. The party had called for protests in Mianwali, Bahawalpur and Faisalabad on Wednesday, which was followed by the power show at D-Chowk in Islamabad on Friday.
(with contributions from the agency)
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