News Mania / Piyal Chatterjee / 5th October 2024
In spite of a ban on gathering in the city, supporters of imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan staged an anti-government rally in the capital of Pakistan on Friday, and police opened fire.
The city of Islamabad was placed on high alert ahead of a series of high-level diplomatic engagements, including a visit from the foreign minister of India, which was to take place over the next two weeks. Authorities had shut off the city and barred cellular services in order to prevent the gathering.Entry points to Islamabad were blocked by shipping containers, which were manned by a huge contingent Pakistani police and paramilitary troops.
Still, scores of Khan’s followers managed to get across the blockades. Law enforcement apprehended some, including the sisters of the former prime minister, according to local media, Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and other sources.
“Release Imran! Release Imran!” scores of protestors screamed, clutching images of Khan and PTI banners, less than a kilometre from the city’s red zone, which includes the country’s parliament and a protected enclave of foreign embassies.It was the most recent in a string of protest gatherings that have taken place since the beginning of the month to demand Khan’s release and stir up opposition to the current coalition, which the PTI regards as illegitimate because it was created through a rigged election.
“It is their right to hold a gathering, but this is not the right time or the way,” Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told journalists, pointing to diplomatic events in the capital.
Islamabad is gearing up to host a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on October 15–16, which will be attended by Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, a Saudi delegation, and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Naqvi had advised Khan’s followers to postpone their demonstration until after the SCO meeting.In addition, police shot tear gas at a convoy carrying Khan’s supporters as they approached the city from the northwest province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Both Islamabad and Rawalpindi, the nearby garrison city, closed their schools and stopped providing phone service.
