Pakistan’s Peshawar As thousands of supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan breached government barricades and engaged in combat with law enforcement in the nation’s capital, Islamabad, on Tuesday, four members of Pakistan’s security services were slain.
The paramilitary personnel were run over by automobiles in a protester convoy, according to a statement from the interior ministry.
It’s not a nonviolent demonstration. In a different statement released by his office, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared it to be extremism.
Demands for Khan’s release from prison and the federal government’s resignation over what they claim were rigged general elections this year served as the impetus for the protests.
Roadblocks, such as shipping containers, that had been erected on highways and roads to bar their arrival were taken down by protesters. Meanwhile, authorities tried to disperse the demonstrators by using tear gas.
Islamabad resident Farooq Khan told NBC News that the metropolis has turned into a battleground.
Khan, who is unrelated to the former prime minister, claimed that because all markets and educational institutions have been closed for the past three days, we citizens have been confined to our houses.
According to his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party, the march that wound its way into the capital early on Tuesday was headed by Imran Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, and a crucial ally, Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Bibi urged followers to march peacefully toward the Red Zone, which houses important state institutions including the prime minister’s mansion and foreign embassies, and urged the government not to hurt the demonstrators.
Khan, a former prime minister and cricket legend, has been incarcerated for more than a year. He was given a three-year prison in a graft case after being removed from office in April 2022 by a no-confidence vote in Parliament. He was then given an additional ten years in prison after being found guilty in January of disclosing official secrets.
Despite the more than 150 criminal cases he faces, he and his party continue to enjoy popularity.
Earlier, he had instructed supporters to hold a sit-in demonstration at a roundabout outside parliament, calling for his release and the reversal of recent constitutional revisions that they claim diminish the judiciary’s authority.
But Pakistan’s security forces made an effort to prevent the demonstrations from getting to Islamabad.
To prevent supporters from entering the capital on Monday, police used tear gas canisters on them.
It followed a court’s decision last week to ban protests in the city, police arrests of over 4,000 Khan supporters, and the suspension of internet and mobile service in several regions of the nation.
The PTI mostly uses social media platforms to disseminate event details and uses messaging apps like WhatsApp to disseminate information. Even using a VPN, the X platform—which is prohibited in Pakistan—can no longer be accessed.
The federal government offered a specific location for the protest away from D-Chowk, a sizable square in the Red Zone, and several PTI officials conducted discussions with the government on Monday.
According to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Khan’s party turned down a government invitation to hold a demonstration outside the city.
The administration has requested army personnel to bolster the police and paramilitary presence in the sensitive Red Zone in response to mounting security concerns.
An extremely divisive political climate in Pakistan is reflected in the rising tensions.
Khan was removed from power in 2022 by a no-confidence vote in parliament, and authorities maintain that only the courts have the authority to order his release. The cases against him are politically driven, according to his party.
Freddie Clayton reported from London, while Mushtaq Yusufzai reported from Peshawar.
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