The leaders of two Pakistani protest movements vowed yesterday to keep their protests alive until Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigns, after thousands entered the country’s capital in the biggest challenge yet to the 15-month-old civilian government.
“I will not leave here until I have got real freedom for the country,” Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who heads the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party, told thousands of supporters who followed him into Islamabad the day before. “Decide Nawaz Sharif! Resign and announce elections.”
Populist cleric Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri, who spearheaded a separate protest march to the capital, planned to stage a sit-in with his followers and deliver a speech at around midday.
Photo: Reuters
“Dr. Qadri will present the ‘Demands of Revolution March 2014,’ which includes stepping down of Nawaz Sharif and his government and his immediate arrest,” Qadri’s spokesman, Shahid Mursaleen said.
The unrest has raised questions about Pakistan’s stability, at a time when the nuclear-armed nation of 180 million is waging an offensive against Pakistani Taliban and when the influence of anti-Western and sectarian groups is growing.
On Friday, a stone-throwing mob attacked Khan’s convoy as he led supporters through the eastern city of Gujranwala. Gunshots were fired but Khan was not injured, his spokeswoman said. The government said there was no shooting, and police arrested 16 ruling party activists.
In Islamabad, authorities have blocked roads with shipping containers and barbed wire in an effort to control the marches, and riot police have been out in force.
“We think Imran Khan will make a better country for the youth,” Muhammad Taraki, 25, said at Khan’s rally point. “I have a bachelor’s degree, but I cannot get a job.”
Some members of Sharif’s party have suggested the protests are secretly backed by elements in the military, which has had an uneasy relationship with Sharif.
To what extent Khan and ul-Qadri can destabilize the government is likely to depend on the stance taken by the armed forces, which have a long history of staging coups.
Few people fear a coup, but many officials think the threat of unrest could increase the military’s hold over the government.
The military has been frustrated with the government, in particular over the prosecution for treason of former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf.
There has also been disagreement between the government and the army on how to deal with the Taliban. The government insisted on peace talks but eventually the army launched an offensive.
The government is struggling to overcome power shortages, high unemployment and spiraling crime — the legacy of decades of corruption and neglect. Anger over the economy means the protests appeal to many disillusioned young Pakistanis.
Leaders of the two protests command intense personal loyalty from their followers. Khan is a famed former international cricketer, known for his charity work, who now heads the third- largest legislative bloc in Pakistan. He is protesting alleged irregularities in last year’s voting.
Ul-Qadri, a cleric and political activist who usually lives in Canada, runs a network of schools and Islamic charities. His followers say they intend to occupy an area of Islamabad called Zero Point.
Most observers expect the military to play referee — to maintain security but not support action to force Sharif out.
“Imran will not get from the army what he was expecting,” an analyst close to the military said. “If there was any confusion earlier about whether the army would help Imran or rescue him or topple the government, there should be none now. There is no question of army intervention.”
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
RSS