Govt fails to curb PTI tsunami as it nears D-Chowk

The PML-N-led coalition government on Wednesday failed to contain PTI activists and supporters – who while staging their “Haqeeqi Azadi March” -- managed to cross all barriers and reached near D-Chowk after setting some trees and public property on fire in Blue Area of the federal capital.

The ministers and leaders, who mocked the opponents for not having enough support and kept claiming victory throughout the day through their statements and news conferences, were left red-faced when the protesters crossed all the hurdles and compelled the law-enforcement agencies to retreat.

Clashes continued throughout the day between the protesters and law-enforcement agencies at different locations in the twin cities, including Faizabad Interchange, where the roads were blocked with containers.

The clashes unfolded against a hazy backdrop of police-fired tear gas with PTI supporters and activists flexing their muscles in an unrelenting stare-down with the security personnel who resorted to firing teargas, baton-charging and detaining the marchers.

Scenes of 2014 march-turned sit-in of PTI were also witnessed across capital with a bit more intensity and one major difference was that the protesters managed to reach near D-Chowk in no time this time around.

Previously, they had stayed at Aabpara Market and Kashmir Highway, which has now been named as Srinagar Highway, for a few days and then marched to D-Chowk, the place where all important government installations are located. Parliament, Supreme Court, Prime Minister House & Office, key ministries and offices, lawmakers’ residence, offices of the national broadcasters, among other important buildings, are at an arm’s length from D-Chowk.

Amid rising political tension ahead of the much-hyped political rally, the change in government’s strategy was witnessed soon after the Supreme Court ordered the government to allow PTI to organise their long march at a ground between H-9 and G-9 areas of the federal capital.

Though the representatives of the PTI had assured the apex court that no damage would take place to any property during the rally, the scenes at Blue Area not just contradicted it but were horrifying as trees, greenbelt areas, and public property were set on fire.

Islamabad's entry and exit routes remained blocked, as well as all important sites, including parliament, government offices and diplomatic missions. Entry and exit points were also blocked to and from all major cities in Punjab province and on Grand Trunk Road.

However, the PTI chairman remained defiant and kept galvanising his supporters to not wilt under the crackdown.

The main convoy from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, led by Imran himself, managed to enter Punjab from Attock after removing barricades placed by the provincial government at the bridge of the city to stop the marchers from entering the province.

PTI leaders, including Fawad Chaudhry and Shireen Mazari, also urged supporters to make their way to the capital's D-Chowk, saying that all containers and blockades on the way had been removed.

"No blockade can stop us," Imran said from atop a truck on the GT Road on his way to Islamabad from Peshawar.

"We will remain in Islamabad till the announcement of dates for dissolution of assemblies & elections are given," he later tweeted.

Later in the evening, in a video message tweeted by the PTI, Imran urged the nation to take to the streets wherever they were and said people heading to Islamabad must reach D-Chowk.

"I will make it there in a couple of hours."

He also appealed to women and children to come out of their homes for "real independence".
Imran said it was "good news" that the Supreme Court had decided that no one would be arrested during the march.

"Your collective presence will send a message across Pakistan that the nation has rejected this ‘imported’ government."

Soon after the PTI chairman’s announcement that he would reach Islamabad's D-Chowk soon, the Islamabad police vowed to stop anyone from entering the federal capital’s Red Zone.
 

"If anyone tries to come near the Red Zone, he will be dealt with an iron hand," Islamabad IG Dr Akber Nasir said.

Akber said he had asked the officers not to use force in other areas of the capital. He also appealed to the protesters not to damage public property and remain peaceful.

Earlier, the PTI chairman had denied rumours of a deal with the government and said "absolutely not" to any such prospects.

"We will remain in Islamabad till the announcement of dates for dissolution of assemblies and elections are given." He further urged the people of the twin cities to join PTI's march.

Imran earlier arrived at Wali interchange in K-P and later left for Islamabad. Other party leaders departed for the federal capital from their respective areas.

Speaking to charged party supporters in Swabi, he told his supporters that they will go to Islamabad's D-Chowk and "no one can stop us".

Live TV footage showed police fighting with Imran’s supporters, beating them and in some places breaking their vehicles' windscreens and bundling them into police vans.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah later said police had carried out a total of 4,417 swoops on Imran’s supporters' homes, offices and on protest rallies and had arrested nearly 1,700 people.

Of those, 250 were freed after they submitted affidavits that they had nothing to do with the protest march, he added.

Schools were closed, examinations suspended and normal life remained disturbed in the capital and all major cities in the Punjab province.

Contrary to Imran’s promises to draw more than two million people to Islamabad, Sanaullah claimed that only a few thousand people were making their way to the capital. "We haven't stopped anyone from exercising their constitutional and legal right to hold a rally or take part in democratic politics, but we can't allow anyone to sow violence and chaos.”

Speaking about the hearing of a petition in the Supreme Court, the minister said the SC was the “supreme protector” of the Constitution. He added that the government would comply with the order of the top court as per the instructions of the prime minister. “It is our responsibility and legal and constitutional duty as well.”

According to Rana, the three-member bench had proposed a negotiation team to break the impasse over the protest. He added that the four-member team of the PTI was being led by ex-PM Imran’s former aide Babar Awan whereas the prime minister would have announced the government team by this time as well.

He said if anyone was willing to talk then the government would negotiate but it would not let anyone take the law into their own hands.

“We have not stopped anyone from exercising their constitutional rights,” Rana said, adding that violence, however, would not be tolerated.

He added that the government had allowed Imran to hold at least “33 political gatherings” since the ouster of his government in April this year.

The minister also requested the court to keep the events of the 2014 sit-in, such as the attack on the PTV building and broken promises by Imran regarding the protest venue, in mind while taking its decision on the petition filed by the PTI.

Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb lashed out at the PTI chief for seeding the grounds for a “civil war” in Pakistan which she alleged was part of PTI’s “conspiracy”.

In a statement, she said Imran was the only person responsible for the present situation in the country. The minister said that the recovery of weapons from the residence of PTI activists was not jihad, but ‘fasaad’ (anarchy).

She said Imran wanted civil war in the country and he had plotted to seize Islamabad by force of arms, adding that the government would not allow anyone to create anarchy in the country with bombs, weapons and ammunition.

“The government is committed to ensuring the safety of lives and property of the people,” she remarked.
The minister added that the shooting, burning and siege were not part of political culture and there was a need to draw a clear line between political activism and militancy.

Read ‘Azadi March’: PTI workers asked to converge at Lahore’s Batti Chowk

Lahore and Karachi clashes

Lahore turned into a battleground as police there and activists of PTI clashed earlier in the morning.
The latter managed to push their way through the containers deployed at Bhatti Chowk by the government to stop the protesters from reaching Islamabad.

Law enforcers resorted to tear gas after PTI supporters tried to remove the containers placed on the routes exiting Lahore. Heavy police contingents were deployed at the Lower Mall, Band Road, Sagian Bridge, Bhatti Chowk, Ravi Bridge and other adjacent areas to stop PTI leaders, activists, supporters and public at large from leaving the provincial capital to participate in the party’s long march to Islamabad.

PTI leaders Yasmin Rashid, Hammad Azhar, and Shafqat Mehmood were leading the workers. As a result, the party supporters hurled stones at the police.

At least 12 workers of the PTI were taken into custody by the police after the clashes. Former Punjab health minister Yasmin Rashid was also stopped briefly by law enforcement agencies, with the party claiming that the police tried to "snatch her car keys".

A video of the incident shared on social media showed a purported PTI supporter resisting the arrest of the former minister.

During an alleged police action at Bhatti Chowk, a former PTI councillor, Faisal Abbas, fell from a bridge and died of serious injuries

In Karachi, PTI activists transformed its protest at the city’s Numaish area into a sit-in after the situation turned tense over the burning of a police van.

The marchers not only set the van on fire, but also pelted stones at the law enforcers, injuring a police superintendent.

The police tried to disperse the protesters by firing in the air. However, their efforts went in vain.
Apart from the chaos at Numaish, riots also erupted at the Khudadad Colony Chowrangi and Noorani Chowrangi.

Amid the crisis, the Supreme Court held an emergency session, ordering the government and PTI leaders to hold urgent negotiations. It also ordered the release of supporters detained by police.

The Supreme Court also allowed the PTI to hold its protest near Peshawar Morr between the H-9 and G-9 areas of Islamabad and restrained the government from arresting its leaders and activists in connection with the long march.

The court instructed the authorities not to resort to "unnecessary use of force", not raid the homes and offices PTI or arrest the party’s leaders and activists.

It also ordered the immediate release of detained lawyers as well as those arrested under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance 1960, adding that those involved in "heinous crimes" and nominated in FIRs would be dealt with by the high courts.

Delivering the order, the court hoped that the top leadership of the party would instruct its activists not to take the law into their own hands.

The attorney general for Pakistan (AGP) informed the court that the PTI marchers could be in millions, whereas the venue where the JUI-F had staged its protest could accommodate only 15,000 people.

Babar Awan, who was representing the PTI, expressed his gratitude to the AGP for acknowledging that there would be millions of marchers.

The court ordered that the negotiation teams of the government and PTI should meet at 10pm.

The AGP informed the court that the government team was headed by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and also included Faisal Subzwari of the MQM-P, JUI-F MNA Asad Mahmood and Balochistan Awami Party’s Khalid Magsi.

The SC advised the protesters to remain peaceful and not damage any public or private property.

(With input from our correspondents in Lahore and Karachi)