ISLAMABAD: Police on Friday clashed with opposition party workers in Rawalpindi, arresting dozens ahead of a planned protest by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan aimed at pressing the government for the premier’s accountability.
Police charged stone-throwing protesters with batons and fired tear gas at the supporters, who had taken to the streets to demonstrate against arrests made the previous night after authorities banned all public gatherings in the capital for two months.
Meanwhile, municipal workers used shipping containers to block major roads leading from Rawalpindi to Islamabad, where Kaptaan has vowed to lead a demonstration on November 2 to demand Nawaz Sharif step down over revelations made in the Panama Papers about his family’s alleged involvement in corruption.
A heavy contingent of police surrounded Kaptaan’s house in Bani Gala, preventing him from leaving– though he has not been formally arrested.
Dozens of his supporters also gathered around the house, shouting anti-Nawaz.
The PTI chairman later made a brief media appearance vowing he would not be deterred and would lead his protest as planned.
“Is this a kingdom or a democracy?” the PTI supremo asked outside his Bani Gala residence. “What crime have we committed? Why did they stop me from going to Rawalpindi?”
“When IHC directed [authorities] not to block Islamabad then why was Bani Gala sealed?”
Explaining his decision to not resist police in reaching Rawalpindi, Imran said: “We were going to Pindi to prepare for Nov 2, but when they [police] stopped us we established that there is no point in doing this today when our target is Nov 2.”
He said he would show during the Islamabad protest “what the power of people actually is”.
“I will follow you till my last breath,” he warned Nawaz Sharif. “If you put me in jail, I will come after you when I get out.”
“To hide his corruption, he does not respect any law… to hide his corruption, he uses the language of Modi against Pakistan Army,” Imran alleged.
He said even “30,000 policemen” cannot stop him from going to the capital on Nov 2 and directed party workers to avoid arrest and gear up for the planned protest in Islamabad.
Moments after his appearance before the media, his supporters clashed with police, shouting slogans and pelting stones at police vehicles.
The police retaliated with tear gas, dispersing the demonstrators.
Dozens of protesters belonging to PTI staged a sit-in in Karachi demanding release of the detained opposition activists.
Nawaz is under immense pressure over his children’s offshore bank accounts, revealed in the Panama Papers leak.
The protest plan comes at a sensitive time for him, with the Supreme Court due to start hearing a case about the Panama Papers revelations on November 1. The exact number of arrests of opposition supporters could not be confirmed, but a PTI spokesman said 43 workers arrested on Thursday night were still in detention while others had been released. PTI leaders are monitoring the media coverage of today’s activities inside Imran Khan’s Bani Gala residence. The workers and media persons, however, are not allowed to enter the house.
