Nawaz Sharif , Gen Raheel Sharif Islamabad: Pakistan’s army commanders on Sunday night expressed concern and said they support democracy after clashes between police and protesters in Islamabad left three people dead and hundreds hurt, reports BBC. Protesters are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The army commanders’ meeting was brought forward after violence overnight. Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif chaired the meeting at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, close to Islamabad. After a lengthy four-hour meeting at General Headquarters, the Pakistan Army corps commanders came out with a statement “reaffirming support to democracy” and reiterating that the current stand-off between the PML-N-led government and the Pakistan Tehreek-I-Insaaf (PTI), Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) needed a political solution. In the statement, the army said the commanders viewed the ongoing political crisis with “serious concern”. “Further use of force will only aggravate the problem.” Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has left his official residence and shifted to personal house in the face of growing demonstration against him. He has convened a joint session of the parliament to discuss the political crisis, reports Dawn.com and agencies. Demonstrators loyal to opposition politician Imran Khan and cleric Tahirul Qadri have been taking part in a sit-in for two weeks. They accuse Sharif of corruption and electoral fraud - charges he denies. There are now widespread fears that the escalation of political tensions may cause the army to intervene and weaken the country’s fledgling democracy, the BBC’s Ilyas Khan reports from Islamabad. Police have used tear gas shells and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of protesters armed with batons, gas masks and slingshots. The protesters broke security barriers to move closer to Sharif’s residence late on Saturday, sparking clashes with the police which continued overnight and into Sunday. Islamabad police chief Khalid Khattak told the BBC that close to 100 protesters had been arrested, some armed with “axes, hammers and cutters”. Agencies’ reports add: Fearing backlash from anti-government protesters, roads leading to Pak prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s Lahore residence, where he is currently residing, have been blocked and heavy contingent of police deployed. The move came after Imran Khan and moderate cleric Tahir-ul Qadri’s supporters were baton-charged outside the prime minister’s official residence in Islamabad. Two were killed in police firing and over 350 others were injured. By Sunday morning sporadic clashes were continuing between police in riot gear and a few hundred protesters, as thousands more lay on the grass and slept. Many protesters had come armed with batons and slingshots. Several vehicles stood torched and hundreds of tear gas canisters lay strewn on the ground on Islamabad’s normally pristine Constitution Avenue following more than 12 hours of battle. Thousands of followers of politician Imran Khan and firebrand cleric Tahir ul Qadri have been camped outside parliament since August 15 demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, triggering a crisis that has raised the spectre of military intervention. Opposition groups—who claim the 2013 election which swept Sharif to power was rigged—tried to storm the prime minister’s offical residence on Saturday night, using cranes to remove barricades. Meanwhile, Imran Khan has said he will file murder cases against Nawaz Sharif and interior minister. Stating that time is up for the Nawaz Sharif government,Imran Khan said Sharif government is terrorizing people of Pakistan. The Lahore police on early Sunday placed containers on Raiwind Road leading to the palatial Jati Umera residence of prime minister Sharif in Lahore. Sharif had left the prime minister house in Islamabad for his Lahore residence, which is sprawling on acres of land, on Friday along with his personal staff. “Sharif had vacated the prime minister house fearing it might come under siege from the protesters,” a source in the ruling PML(N) told PTI, an Indian news agency. His brother and Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif is also living there. “Sharif will not move to the prime minister house in Islamabad till the police manage to clear the area from Khan’s Pakistan Tahreek-i-Insaf and Qadri’s Pakistan Awami Tahreek,” the source said, adding Sharif and his family members would not travel by road in the present circumstances. Meanwhile, the protesters clashed with police at famous Liberty Chowk and the Mall Road here. Half a dozen protesters suffered injuries and were shifted to hospital where their condition is stated to be out of danger. Meanwhile, a high level meeting chaired by Pak prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Sunday has decided to summon a joint session of the parliament on Tuesday 2nd September to discuss prevailing crisis in the country, reports Dawn news. The joint session of the parliament would adopt another resolution for upholding the Constitution and supremacy of the Parliament. Highly placed sources told Dawn.com that a meeting, chaired by the PM, condemned the attack on Parliament House by protestors and termed it against the Constitution.
No comments:
Post a Comment