Containers and Internet shutdowns to stop Imran Khan's supporters in Islamabad
Over the past few days, the government arrested thousands of people and shut down the Internet. Members of the former prime minister’s party, led by his wife and the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, reached the capital’s government district, clashing with law enforcement. Six people have already died.
Islamabad (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Protests in support of former Prime Minister Imran Khan have resulted in clashes with police and at least six deaths so far, including four law enforcement officers run over by a convoy of protesters, the Prime Minister’s Office reported.
In a statement Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the bloodshed. In his view, this “is not a peaceful protest. It is extremism," aimed at achieving "evil political designs".
Security forces have places various shipping containers around the core part of the capital, Islamabad, to prevent protesters from reaching Parliament. The government today issued threats, saying that it would send in the army as well.
Before the start of the march, some 4,000 people had already been arrested and Internet services cut. Police used tear gas and rubber bullets from the top of the containers in an attempt to disperse the crowd.
Pakistan has been in turmoil since Prime Minister Imran Khan lost a confidence vote in Parliament in April 2022 after falling out of favour with the military, which, after decades of military rule, still controls the country’s politics.
Although Imran Khan's party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI, Pakistan Movement for Justice), de facto came in first in last February’s elections, the country's two long-established political parties, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), have teamed up to stay in power, relegating the PTI to the opposition benches.
Khan has been in prison for over a year in connection with over 150 legal cases, on trumped-up charges, according to his supporters. Yet, despite his detention, Imran Khan has continued to mobilise his voter base through social media.
Recently, the 72-year-old former cricket star asked his supporters to gather in Islamabad for a sit-in protest, led by his wife, Bushra Bibi, and the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur, a member of the PTI and a close advisor to Khan.
Gandapur announced that he would lead the protest to D-Chowk Square in Islamabad’s government district where Khan had led other protests in 2014.
“We will not go back until Imran Khan orders us to,” said Gandapur today, waving the PTI flag from a convoy.
After the PTI announced the sit-in, the authorities on Sunday placed the capital under a security lockdown to prevent protesters from reaching the city’s core area.
In addition to Khan’s release, the PTI is demanding the repeal of constitutional amendments approved last month that allow Parliament to appoint the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who was previously chosen on seniority. In recent years, the court had repeatedly ruled in favour of Khan's release.
Since tensions picked up about four days ago, the government has suspended Internet services, while some social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) have been blocked for months.
However, thanks to virtual private networks (VPNs), which allow secure, off-site Internet access bypassing government restrictions, journalists, activists and ordinary citizens have been able to access the platform, seen as essential for obtaining information, albeit with increasing difficulty.
Pakistan's Council of Islamic Ideology recently declared that the use of VPNs to be against Islam, a move many see as support for the government and its repressive decisions. The latter would like to prevent their use, like in Russia and China.
An independent website found that yesterday, 25 November, VPN demand in Pakistan jumped by 102 per cent over the daily average recorded in the previous 28 days. Today, searches reached a peak of 213 per cent.
To address the situation, the government has turned to Chinese technologies to test a national "firewall", which it claims is meant to crack down on online crimes, but whose opponents see as a tool to monitor online traffic and carry out further repression.
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29/02/2024 20:15
26/07/2018 18:39
