At least 8 have been killed during a second day of deadly riots across Pakistan. However, Tehreek-e-Insaf say that the real death toll is now 50.
Pakistan’s major cities were struck by riots for another day today, with much of the country experiencing a blizzard of anger and unrest.
The former PM, Imran Khan was arrested inside a court in Islamabad and dragged aggressively amidst a swarm of Parliamentary Rangers.
The leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party had travelled from Lahore to the capital Islamabad, and was taken into custody when he appeared in court on alleged anti-graft charges, his lawyer Faisal Chaudhry said.
Since Khan’s arrest, amid the chaos, army forces have deployed on the streets of two of the country’s biggest provinces, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and Punjab, as well as other major cities.
In the northwest city of Peshawar, supporters of Khan’s PTI, political party, charged the offices of national broadcaster ‘Radio Pakistan’. Officials have reported that at least 4 were killed on Wednesday in the region. Peshawar’s Bala Hisaar fort, which is home to a military facility, heard several gunshots.
On Tuesday, in the southwest city of Quetta, a protestor was killed during demonstrations.
PTI claim that since Khan’s arrest, 1,000 PTI supporters have been arrested and several have been injured. Many arrests have taken place in Karachi and Islamabad and other major cities.
In a bid to quell the pandemonium and unrest, connection to internet services have been suspended or difficult in much of the country.
A dystopian scene of major, (ordinarily bustling) roads have been vacant, as many locals have been too frightened to leave their homes. Many schools have also been shut.
The court has approved an 8 day remand for the former PM. The PTI party have subsequently challenged Imran Khan’s arrest at the supreme court.
On Thursday, authorities arrested a former foreign minister and vice chairman of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, Shah Mahmood Qureshi. Other senior PTI leaders, Asad Umar and Fawad Chaudhry, were arrested on Wednesday, Chaudhry from outside the Supreme Court only moments after he had spoken to news reporters.
Imran Khan lead the country in 2018. Since then, he has publicly accused the senior officer of the mighty army, for plotting to assassinate him. Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament last year. However, interestingly, the former national cricket hero, still remains one of Pakistan’s most popular politicians and is supported by many Pakistanis globally.
Supporters for Khan’s opposition, the Sharif family, (PML-N) party have been seen on social media celebrating over Khan’s arrest by distributing mithai/sweets.
The army have released a statement exclaiming that Khan’s arrest was “in line with the NAB statement and law” and called those rioting against his detention, “miscreants trying to evoke the nation’s emotions for achieving their limited and selfish objectives.”
Pakistan’s military said, “The targeting of army property and installations was a black chapter in the country” and vowed that it would “not allow anyone to take the law into their hands.”
However, many supporters of Khan have named his arrest ‘a black day for democracy in Pakistan, and an arrest of revenge’. It has been proposed that Khan’s arrest was instigated due to him highlighting previous money laundering cases against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz members (PML-N) and the subsequent arrest of former leader, Nawaz Sharif. These events unfolded whilst Khan was in power.
The following is an excerpt from a pre-recorded statement released on YouTube by Khan, following his arrest,
“By the time you will receive these words of mine, I will have been detained on incorrect charges, Pakistan constitution, which gives us rights, which gives us democracy, has been buried. Perhaps I won’t get the opportunity to speak to you again.” Khan claims in the video statement, “I have always followed the law. I am being apprehended so that I can’t follow my political path for this country’s fundamental rights and for me to obey this corrupt government of crooks which has been hoisted on us.” Khan appealed to his supporters to “come out for your fundamental rights; no nation is handed its freedom on a plate; the time has come for all of you to come and struggle for your rights.”
Pakistan has been renowned historically for its gutter politics. Prominent news stations, such as ‘ARY News’ and ‘Bol’ invite panel guests from acting and opposing parties to lambast one another publicly over personal issues and alike. However, it is clear to see that those who will, and have always suffered the most from corrupt leadership in Pakistan are the general public and those in dire poverty.
May the ummah produce islamically grounded, robust and resilient leaders globally who will create a lasting impact…Ameen.
This article mentions 2 channels: Bol news and ARY which are in fact the only two channels which are reporting unbiased news and not towing the line of the establishment. Remaining all media is fully controlled by the Army establishment, hence all the restrictions and arrests of Bol channel personnel etc. Most of the people are getting their news from social media and that too is being banned these days by the establishment through selective censorship and stopping internet altogether. Right now the situation in Pakistan is that the entire establishment, the imposed non-legitimate corrupt government comprising of all the political parties (some 13 of them), and almost all the institutions are against one party (PTI) which is the most popular party right now led by Imran Khan.
Why u warning people brother??
Let’s not call it an “arrest” as the western media is lazily calling it. It was an abduction. It is the job of the police to make an arrest if they have a warrant. In this case, Rangers (meaning army) broke into the High Court where IK was waiting for a ball hearing. The supreme Court judge has now ruled this was illegal and hence more reason to call it an “abduction”. Welcome to banana Republic of Pakistan.
Wa’alaikumussalam warahmatullahi wabarakaatuh 🙂
Assalamualaikum ❤️
Wow man. I warned you not to go into this mess as you will always end up biased. But to my surprise this is the most neutral and unbiased i.e. absolutely unbiased news article so far on the issue. While it being such a controversial scenario.
You can definitely handle it. May Allah grant us all the khair of the Universe and hereafter and protect us from all the sher of the universe and the hereafter. Ameen. Smile to Jannah.
Every good man goes to jail
Praiseworthy article. Jazak’Allah khayr.