Police, protesters clash in deadly demonstrations in Punjab
9 Aug Yahoo News
One man was killed and a police station partly burned as supporters
of an anti-government cleric clashed with police in several Pakistani
cities on Friday, officials said, before two large anti-government
demonstrations planned for next week.
Activist and cleric Tahir ul-Qadri has called for the government to
be toppled by the end of the month. He plans marches on Sunday to
protest deadly clashes between his supporters and police in June.
Another protest, led by opposition politician Imran Khan, is set to
march on the capital on Thursday.
The planned demonstrations have unnerved Pakistan's fledgling
civilian government. The nuclear-armed nation of 180 million has a
history of coups and street protests.Some in the ruling party fear the
protesters may be receiving support from elements in the country's
powerful military. Some officers are unhappy after former military chief
Pervez Musharraf was put on trial for treason last year.
Musharraf deposed Nawaz Sharif, the current prime minister, in a coup
in 1999 but was forced to step down in 2008. Sharif returned from exile
shortly afterwards and won a landslide victory in last year's polls.But
criticism has been mounting from both Qadri and Khan, who are calling on
the government to resign. Qadri says the government is corrupt and Khan
says it is failing to investigate election irregularities.
In recent days, Pakistan's government has stationed the military
around key installations in Islamabad and banned gatherings of more than
five people in the capital. Qadri, who runs a network of schools, says
they have also arrested hundreds of his supporters.
“The Punjab police have lost all humanity,” he said in a televised
speech Friday. “The rulers have become terrorists.” Several families of
detained activists told Reuters that police arrived in the middle of the
night, banging down doors and dragging men out of their beds with no
explanation.The government says only a few dozen arrests have been made.
But provincial law minister Rana Mashhood Ahmad told Reuters Friday
that Qadri will be arrested and charged with terrorism offenses for
inciting violence.
Qadri's supporters clashed with police late on Friday afternoon after
trying to move barricades the security services had erected around his
house in the eastern city of Lahore.The supporters brought a crane to
move shipping containers blocking off the residence and threw stones at
police who tried to stop them by firing tear gas. Police withdrew from
the street and women activists armed with batons surrounded Qadri's
house.Clashes were also reported elsewhere in Punjab, Pakistan's
wealthiest and most populous province and the political power base of
the prime minister.
Abdul Majeeb, 26, was shot dead during clashes between Qadri
supporters and police in the town of Bhakkar, 320 kilometers southwest
of the capital, said Dr Saad Ahmad at Nishtar hospital in Multan.
Qadri supporters ransacked a police station and set parts of it on
fire in the city of Qaidabad, 200 kilometers southwest of the capital,
witnesses said, after some of their colleagues had been arrested.
Protesters also seized a police inspector and two constables in
Depalpur, 360 kilometers south of the capital, police said.
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