{"id":333,"date":"2024-11-26T15:55:54","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T15:55:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/26\/a-capital-on-lockdown-internet-shutdowns-and-protesters-clashing-with-police-whats-going-on-in-pakistan\/"},"modified":"2024-11-26T15:55:54","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T15:55:54","slug":"a-capital-on-lockdown-internet-shutdowns-and-protesters-clashing-with-police-whats-going-on-in-pakistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/26\/a-capital-on-lockdown-internet-shutdowns-and-protesters-clashing-with-police-whats-going-on-in-pakistan\/","title":{"rendered":"A capital on lockdown, internet shutdowns and protesters clashing with police. What\u2019s going on in Pakistan?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thousands of supporters of Pakistan\u2019s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan broke through barricades around the capital Tuesday and marched into Islamabad, clashing with security forces and demanding his release. <\/p>\n

Authorities have enforced a security lockdown in the country, imposed internet blackouts and barricaded major roads leading into the capital to prevent protesters from entering, after Khan called for his supporters to march on parliament. <\/p>\n

Pakistan\u2019s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told reporters that protesters could remain on the outskirts of Islamabad, but threatened extreme measures if they entered the city. <\/p>\n

The latest protests came as Islamabad bolstered security for an official visit by Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko, who arrived in the capital on Monday for three days of talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what to know. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s happening?<\/h2>\n

A convoy of vehicles carrying protesters set off from the city of Peshawar Sunday as part of a \u201clong march\u201d with the aim of reaching the capital, about 180 kilometers (110 miles) away. <\/p>\n

Led by Khan\u2019s wife Bushra Bibi and Ali Amin Gandapur, chief minister in northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province \u2013 where Khan\u2019s party remains in power \u2013 the protesters planned to hold a sit-in at D-Chowk, a large square near the country\u2019s parliament. <\/p>\n

Protesters reached the outskirts of Islamabad Monday, defying a two-day security lockdown and a ban on rallies. Along the way, police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds and blocked roads with shipping containers to prevent them pushing through. <\/p>\n

Video showed a police post ablaze and several fires on the highway. Reuters reported 22 police vehicles were torched just outside Islamabad and elsewhere in Punjab province. <\/p>\n

By Tuesday morning, protesters had breached the city limits and a large crowd was gathered at Zero Point, an interchange well inside the city. <\/p>\n

Soldiers could be seen outside key government buildings in Islamabad, including parliament, the Supreme Court and the Secretariat. <\/p>\n

Will the protests continue?<\/h2>\n

Naqvi, Pakistan\u2019s interior minister, said security forces had suffered bullet wounds, but police were \u201cshowing restraint\u201d with protesters. <\/p>\n

He warned that if protesters crossed the line, security forces had been authorized to fire back, and he could take extra measures including imposing a curfew or deploying the military. <\/p>\n

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A Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party’s supporter attempts to throw back tear gas shells fired by riot policemen in Hasan Abdal, Punjab province, Pakistan, on November 25.<\/span> <\/div>
Aamir Qureshi\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Paramilitary soldiers stand guard at a blocked road leading towards the Red Zone area ahead of a protest rally by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in Islamabad on November 24.<\/span> <\/div>
Aamir Qureshi\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cRangers could open fire and there will be no protesters there after five minutes,\u201d Naqvi said. \u201cAnyone who reaches here will be arrested.\u201d <\/p>\n

Khan\u2019s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has accused the government of using excessive force, saying \u201cbullets were fired at protesters\u201d who it described as \u201cpeaceful.\u201d The PTI said about two dozen protesters had been injured. <\/p>\n

In recent days, thousands of Khan supporters have been arrested in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces as authorities tried to prevent the protest march. <\/p>\n

Schools in Islamabad and nearby Rawalpindi closed on Monday and Tuesday, and officials and witnesses said all public transport between cities and terminals had been shut down, according to Reuters. <\/p>\n

PTI senior leader Kamran Bangash said protesters were \u201cdetermined, and we will reach Islamabad,\u201d adding that \u201cwe will overcome all hurdles one by one.\u201d <\/p>\n

Why are they protesting?<\/h2>\n

Protesters are demanding the release of Khan and what his supporters deem political prisoners. They also want a new constitutional amendment to be repealed, which has increased the government\u2019s power to select superior court justices and pick those judges to hear political cases. <\/p>\n

Khan\u2019s supporters also believe February elections were not free and fair, calling it a \u201cstolen mandate.\u201d <\/p>\n

Khan was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in 2022 and has since led a popular campaign against the current government led by Prime Minister Sharif, accusing it of colluding with the military to remove him from office. <\/p>\n

The former star cricketer turned populist politician has been in jail for over a year and faces dozens of criminal cases ranging from corruption to leaking state secrets, all of which he and his party deny. <\/p>\n

Khan and the PTI \u2013 the country\u2019s largest opposition party \u2013 remain popular, and his detention has turbocharged an already tense showdown between the country\u2019s powerful military and his supporters. <\/p>\n

Khan has repeatedly urged his supporters to take to the streets demanding his release, and violence has broken out in several cities. <\/p>\n

A march to Islamabad from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in early October demanding Khan\u2019s release was met with similar road blockades and mobile and internet cuts and ended in clashes with police. <\/p>\n

The protests come at a sensitive time for Pakistan, which has seen a wave of sectarian violence and separatist militant attacks that have killed dozens of people in recent months. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thousands of supporters of Pakistan\u2019s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan broke through barricades around the capital Tuesday and marched into Islamabad, clashing with security forces and demanding his release. Authorities have enforced a security lockdown in the country, imposed internet blackouts and barricaded major roads leading into the capital to prevent protesters from entering,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/republicanstradetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}