Showdown looms as govt decides to stop marchers

ISLAMABAD:
The coalition government on Tuesday decided to bar the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf from holding its ‘Azadi March’ to the capital on May 25 (today), raising the alarm that if the “bloody march” is not nipped in the bud, it would “put the survival of the nation at risk”.

In order to pre-empt the anticipated “chaos and disorder”, the government has further imposed a ban on gatherings under Section 144 (power to issue order absolute at once in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The decision to quell the PTI agitation comes amid the government’s anxious measures to shield itself with thousands of security personnel who rolled into the federal capital a day earlier and a slew of arrests and raids on the homes of party leaders. The government has virtually encircled itself with a moat to insulate itself from the marchers.

According to two police officials, more than 200 supporters of PTI were arrested in overnight raids in Punjab. They were booked on public order offences and remain in detention, one of the sources said.
Meanwhile, senior party leader Fawad Chaudhry accused police of not having the necessary warrants and put the number of arrested at more than 400.

“More than 1,100 houses were raided overnight. Police entered the houses without any warrants and insulted women and children,” he tweeted. Besides invoking the emergency laws, security was being built up across the country, with shipping containers hauled into place in Islamabad and the government quarter put on lockdown, while many entry and exit points around the city of Lahore – some 380 kilometres (236 miles) away – were also blocked.

‘Great service to the nation’

The decision to stop the long march was announced by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah who described the move, approved by the federal capital, as “great service to the nation” because “no one could be allowed to besiege Islamabad and give dictations to the government”.

The federal minister was flanked by leaders from allied parties, including JUI-F’s Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Hyderi, PPP’s Qamar Zaman Kaira and Jamhoori Watan Party’s Shahzain Bugti who affirmed that the decision had been taken through consensus.

Sanaullah denounced PTI workers and leaders as “delinquents” out to set the stage for chaos and division in the nation. “Stopping it would be a great service,” he said while urging all institutions, including the media, to play their part.

The minister said that resources of a federating unit were being utilised to “attack” the federation in the shape of a mob through May 25 long march and added it was his responsibility to protect the life and property of the capital’s citizens which would be fulfilled “at every cost”.

The minister took refuge for his decision in the rationale that PTI leaders had earlier described their leap towards the federal capital as a “bloody march”, saying he would have otherwise allowed “the democratic right of every citizen to hold rallies and protest”.

However, he alleged, that not only the PTI has already changed its gear from using abusive language to opening fire on law enforcement personnel the party’s track record also showed that it deviated from its commitments made before the 2014 sit-in in the capital.

“These people [PTI] have moved from abuses to bullets. A police constable was killed in Lahore,” Sanaullah said while referring to the killing of Constable Kamal Ahmad who was gunned down on Monday night in Lahore’s Model Town. Since then, the government and the PTI leadership have blamed each other for the policeman’s killing.

‘Conspiracy’

Meanwhile, JUI-F’s Maulana Asad Mahmood, who is the federal minister for communications, said in the post-cabinet press conference that if the protest was not thwarted unanimously, it would have given the impression that “we are all a part of the conspiracy”.

He alleged that since the long march came at a time when the country was busy in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to stabilise the economy, former premier Imran Khan was trying to send a message to the world that Pakistan was an unstable country where there was no law and order.

Echoing the interior minister’s concerns, Mahmood said PTI would have been allowed to protest had it been a peaceful rally. “But when the party itself was launching the agitation under the slogans such as ‘bloody march’, then they can’t be given permission to move ahead.”

As for his part, PPP’s Qamar Zaman Kaira described the decision to block the long march as a necessary measure to “save the country from chaos”.

He accused Imran Khan of constantly talking about a “foreign conspiracy” – a rallying cry around which PTI seeks removal of the coalition government – and said the party chairman had now resorted to claims of attempts on his life when his previous lies died down.

‘No compromise on state’s writ’

Separately, addressing a press conference, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the government had decided that there would be no compromise on the state’s writ.

She said the government was fully prepared to deal with the ‘bloody march’ of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, which was hell bent on spreading violence, chaos and anarchy in the country.

“We assure the citizens that they will be protected by the government from the gang of rioters and anarchists who are planning to storm Islamabad. There will be no disturbance in the law and order,” she said.

The minister said it was the state’s responsibility to protect all the citizens, including traders, entrepreneurs, students and women which shall be fulfilled at all costs. The Federal and Punjab governments had decided that there would be no compromise on the writ of state.

She cited intelligence reports suggesting that people armed with weapons, ammunition and batons would be part of the PTI’s long march, who could not be allowed for ‘bloodshed’ in the Capital.

The martyrdom of a police constable in Lahore was a clear proof of the PTI leadership’s intent of creating chaos and anarchy in the country, she said. If they did not have any such purpose, they would have launched their long march from Islamabad instead of Peshawar.

She played visuals from the PTI’s 2014 sit-in, saying that it had turned violent even though Imran had promised it would be peaceful and questioned why the PTI was holding the long march in the first place when it was responsible for the country’s current economic crisis.

Imposing Section 144 in the federal capital, Islamabad Capital Territory Additional District Magistrate Rana Mohammad Waqas Anwar said that certain segments of society were planning demonstrations and processions in the city which could “disrupt public peace, tranquillity and maintenance of law and order situation”.

The order said that the gatherings could pose a “threat to public property, and may lead to a riot or an affray including sectarian riot within the revenue/territorial limits of district Islamabad”.

All kinds of gatherings of five or more persons, processions and rallies and demonstrations at any public place within the Revenue Limits of District Islamabad were prohibited for two months, it added.

Earlier, PML-N leader Attaullah Tarar had announced that the government, in consensus with all its allies, has collectively decided to impose Section 144 in Punjab “immediately”.

Tarar announced in a press conference that the decision was being taken in light of reports that “weapons were being collected with the intention to instigate violence and chaos in the streets”.
After the imposition of the law, all types of public gatherings exceeding four persons will be banned in the province.

During the presser, it was stated that attempts to disrupt peace were part of a well-thought-out scheme to wreak havoc in the country and instigate violence.

The PML-N leader added that it was clear to the government now that the PTI wishes to hold a “bloody march”. He shared previous videos and audio recordings of PTI chairman Imran Khan and President Dr Arif Alvi allegedly instigating violence and celebrating the beating of a uniformed officer at the time of the party’s march held in Islamabad in 2014.

“Imran Khan wants to cause anarchy and destroy peace so he has dead bodies to appease his ego,” stated Tarar. He said that the former premier was a “self-obsessed man” who was unconcerned with the nation’s well-being and its citizens so long as his objectives were fulfilled.

Separately, a notification issued by the Sindh Home Department stated that the province’s inspector general of police had informed authorities that some political and disgruntled elements were planning to trigger acts of “unlawful assembly” with the intent to “block roads, highways and organisation of sit-ins”.

“Therefore, the Sindh government, in the exercise of power under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, does hereby impose a ban on assemblage/gatherings of five or more people, staging of demonstrations and rallies across the province for a period of 30 days with immediate effect.”

Around 8,000 personnel of Punjab Constabulary and 2,000 personnel of Anti-Riot Force and Sindh Police have been called in, while 500 women personnel will be massed outside the demonstration area.

In addition, around 100 prison vans will be summoned to Islamabad from other provinces. The federal government has sought assistance from contingents of the security personnel along with the complete command system from all provinces.

Similarly, over 4,000 Rangers personnel will be in the federal capital and 15,000 tear gas shells have also been demanded from the provinces.