Hundreds Seized As Panicky Asif Ali Zardari Struggles To Keep Grip On Power
Hundreds seized as panicky Asif Ali Zardari struggles to keep grip on power
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle5891273.ece
3/11/2009
Pakistan rounded up hundreds of lawyers, activists and political opponents yesterday before protests that threatened to loosen the Government's increasingly shaky grip on power.
Raja Zafarul Haq, a senior opposition leader, was placed under house arrest and police were hunting for Imran Khan, the former cricketer-turned-politician, after he escaped a police raid on his house in the middle of the night.
Clashes broke out in many cities in the eastern province of Punjab, where protesters took to the streets defying the government ban on public gatherings.
The crackdown, the most severe since the US-allied Government came to power a year ago, will damage the democratic credentials of President Zardari further. His administration is already rocking from a growing Islamic insurgency that culminated last week in a deadly attack on the touring Sri Lanka cricket team.
The army, which has repeatedly seized power in Pakistan from civilan governments, was placed on high alert as tension mounted. Most of those detained belonged to the opposition Pakistan Muslim League (N) led by Nawaz Sharif, the former Prime Minister, and Imran Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf. Scores of others who evaded the morning raids have gone into hiding.
Police and paramilitary troops sealed off the capital, Islamabad, where opposition parties and lawyers planned to stage a sit-in outside the parliament building.
“My house was raided at 3 in the morning but I managed to escape,” Imran Khan told The Times on the telephone.
“The crackdown is reminiscent of military government. The battle line has been drawn and we will continue our struggle against a corrupt Government of President Zardari.”
The protests have been called by lawyers angered by President Zardari's decision not to reinstate Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, the former Chief Justice and head of the country's Supreme Court, who was sacked by the former President, Pervez Musharraf, in November 2007.
Despite yesterday's crackdown, they vowed to continue their protests. They were supported by Mr Sharif. He and his brother were banned by the Supreme Court last month from elected office. Critics said that the decision was influenced by Mr Zardari as it effectively bars them from opposing him in an election.
A defiant Mr Sharif has vowed to take his battle on to the streets and told several thousand supporters at a rally in the North West Frontier Province yesterday: “I cannot rest when Pakistan is being taken towards disastrous circumstances.
“We cannot compromise when all institutions are ruined and the system is on the verge of collapse.”
The Government has threatened to charge Mr Sharif with sedition. Lawyers backed by opposition parties were due to begin a cross-country protest today, known as a long march, followed by a sit-in in the capital on March 16.
Aitzaz Ahsan, a former president of the Pakistan Bar Council, who also escaped arrest, vowed to press on with those plans. “We will keep on knocking on the door of Islamabad relentlessly,” he said.
Imran Khan, also an organiser of the march, vowed to lead it once it had reached Islamabad. “We will make sure that the march is successful. It is a struggle for the independence of judiciary and entire nation is behind us.”
He accused President Zardari of following the policy of Mr Musharraf. “Mr Zardari is afraid of an independent judiciary because he fears that his corruption cases would be reopened.”
President Zardari, the widower of the former Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto, has been dogged by corruption allegations but has never been convicted of any wrongdoing.
Diplomats tried to defuse the tension. Robert Brinkley, the British High Commissioner, held talks with Yousuf Raza Gilani, the Prime Minister. The High Commission said that it was “very concerned” about the arrests.
Sherry Rehman, the Information Minister, accused the opposition of trying to destabilise the Government. “The Government is being pushed into a corner,” she said.
Path to protest
June 2005 Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry appointed Chief Justice of Pakistan. Gains a reputation for independence
March 9, 2007 President Pervez Musharraf suspends Mr Chaudhry for unspecified “misuse of authority”
March 12 Lawyers begin boycott of court cases in protest
July 2 Supreme Court throws out evidence government lawyers want to use against Mr Chaudhry, describing it as “scandalous”
July 12 Suspension declared illegal and all charges against Mr Chaudhry are quashed
November Mr Chaudhry sacked; emergency rule is declared
December 27 Benazir Bhutto assassinated at campaign rally
February 2008 Elections held. PPP, led by Ms Bhutto’s widower, Asif Ali Zardari, and PML (N), led by Nawaz Sharif, form coalition
March 2009 Protests over refusal to reinstate Mr Chaudhry
