Pakistan Deploys Troops To Calm Down Riots as Ex-Prime Minister Khan Detained On Additional Charges
Following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan, who was dragged from a courtroom and ordered held for an additional eight days on new corruption charges that infuriated his supporters and magnified the political unrest in the nation, Pakistan’s government called on the military on Wednesday in areas rocked by deadly violence.
In a speech to the nation, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif claimed that the unrest by supporters of Khan “damaged sensitive public and private property,” forcing him to send in the military to the volatile northwest, Punjab’s most populous province, and Islamabad’s capital.
Following Khan’s detention on Tuesday, crowds in Islamabad and other major cities blocked streets, fought with law enforcement, and set fire to military installations and police checkpoints, resulting in six fatalities and hundreds of arrests. In the city of Peshawar in northwest Pakistan, protesters surrounded a radio station on Wednesday.
“Such scenes were never seen by the people of Pakistan,” Sharif said, following a Cabinet meeting. “Even patients were taken out of ambulances and ambulances were set on fire.”
Calling such attacks “unforgivable,” he warned that those involved in violence would be given exemplary punishment.
Sharif said Khan was arrested because of his involvement in corruption, and that there was evidence available to back up these charges.
Khan is being detained in an Islamabad police compound after being ousted by Sharif in a no-confidence vote last year. The 70-year-old politician was ordered to remain in custody for at least an additional eight days by a judge in a temporary court there, raising the possibility of further unrest.
In a strongly worded statement, the military added its voice to the discussion and threatened to take harsh action against anyone trying to incite a “civil war” in Pakistan. It referred to the planned attacks on its installations as a “black chapter” in the political history of the nation.
“What the eternal enemy of the country could not do for 75 years, this group, wearing a political cloak, in the lust for power, has done it,” the statement said, adding that troops had exercised restraint but they will respond to further attacks, and those involved will bear the responsibility.
It said “strict action” would be taken against those who planned or took part in attacks on military sites. It did not directly name Khan in its statement.
Khan’s dramatic arrest Tuesday — he was pulled from a hearing in Islamabad’s High Court on one set of charges, only to be arrested on another set — was the latest confrontation to roil Pakistan. He is the seventh former prime minister to be arrested in the country, which has also seen interventions by the powerful military over the years. The move comes at a time of economic crisis, when the cash-strapped nation is trying to avoid a default.
Khan’s Islamabad appearance was on multiple graft charges brought by police. As he arrived, the courtroom was stormed by dozens of agents from the anti-corruption agency, the National Accountability Bureau, backed by paramilitary troops. They broke windows after Khan’s guards refused to open the door.
The former cricket star has denounced the cases against him, which include corruption and terrorism charges, as a politically motivated plot by Sharif, his successor, to keep him from returning to power in elections to be held later this year.
Also on Wednesday, police arrested Fawad Chaudhry, Khan’s deputy and vice president of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, outside the Supreme Court in Islamabad. Chaudhry, an outspoken government critic, had insisted that he had been granted legal protection from arrest, and the police did not specify the charges.
The party has appealed for calm, but the country was on high alert. Police were deployed in force, and they placed shipping containers on a road leading to the sprawling police compound in Islamabad where Khan was held. Despite it, demonstrators Wednesday evening attacked and burned down the office of a senior police officer responsible for the security of the police facilities, including the one where Khan is being held.
His supporters in Peshawar raided a building housing Radio Pakistan, damaging equipment and setting it ablaze, said police official Naeem Khan.
Some employees were trapped inside, he said, and police sought to restore order. In eastern Punjab province, the local government asked the army to step in after authorities said 157 police were injured in clashes with protesters.
Police arrested 945 Khan supporters in eastern Punjab province alone since Tuesday, including Asad Umar and Sarfraz Cheema, two senior leaders of his party.
Pakistan’s GEO television broadcast video of Khan’s appearance before a judge in the police compound, showing him seated in a chair, holding documents. He appeared calm but tired.
In the new charges, Khan was accused of accepting millions of dollars worth of property in exchange for providing benefits to a real estate tycoon. The National Accountability Bureau asked to hold him for 14 days, but the
tribunal granted eight days.
Khan was finally indicted Wednesday in the original graft case for which he appeared at the Islamabad court on Tuesday, pleading not guilty. In that case, he faced multiple graft charges brought by the Islamabad Police.
Khan’s lawyers have challenged the Islamabad arrest and are considering taking it to the country’s Supreme Court.
The National Accountability Bureau has detained and investigated former officials, including former prime ministers, politicians, and retired military officers.
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