Pakistani policemen say feel ‘betrayed’ by government concessions to religious party after violent protests

Policemen arrive at the site of a protest by the supporters of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party along a blocked street during a demonstration in Lahore, Pakistan, on April 18, 2021. (AFP)
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Updated 29 April 2021
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Pakistani policemen say feel ‘betrayed’ by government concessions to religious party after violent protests

  • Government said would ban TLP but then met its demands to release arrested rioters, call parliamentary debate on French envoy’s expulsion
  • Information minister says debating French ambassador’s expulsion in line with wishes of Pakistani people, TLP demands “judicial probe” into clashes

KARACHI/LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Several members of the Pakistani police force interviewed by Arab News across the country last week have said there was a growing sense of “betrayal” among their colleagues after the government negotiated with, and met the demands of, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party despite policemen being “killed, tortured and humiliated” by the group’s supporters during protests this month.
Demonstrations by the religious political party erupted on April 12 and quickly turned violent after TLP chief Saad Rizvi was arrested in Lahore for threatening the government with rallies if it did not expel the French envoy to Islamabad over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) published in France last year. Six policemen were killed and over 800 injured, according to official figures, in protests that lasted a week. Photographs of policemen, with their heads, legs and arms heavily bandaged, were posted on social media by their captors through the week.
The government first said it would ban TLP over the violence. But as protests continued and became deadlier, ministers negotiated with the party and eventually acquiesced to its demand to halt criminal cases against, and release, hundreds of TLP supporters arrested during the riots. The government also called a parliamentary vote on expelling the French ambassador, fulfilling the religious group’s top demand. 
TLP has built a wide base of support in recent years, rallying around cases of blasphemy, which are punishable by death in Pakistan.
A policeman who was taken hostage and ultimately released by the TLP in the eastern city of Lahore, the epicenter of the violence, said it was “highly demoralizing” that the government had released rioters who had assaulted police.
“There is no problem in negotiations with protesters,” he told Arab News in an interview last week, declining to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media on the record. “But how can you set those free who have killed, tortured and humiliated law enforcers?”




Supporters of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party throw stones over the police armoured vehicle during a protest against the arrest of their leader in Barakahu neighbourhood of Islamabad, Pakistan, on April 13, 2021. ( AFP)

A senior police officer in Punjab echoed the sentiment.
“The police don’t see any point in performing their duties after what has been done to us,” the officer said on condition of anonymity, saying it would now be difficult to keep his force “motivated.” “We don’t have answers to the questions our staff asks us, and we don’t know how to motivate them after this disgrace.”
Saleem Vahidy, a former deputy inspector general of Sindh Police, said the confidence of the force had “hit rock bottom”:
“When you set free criminals … who are arrested for serious breaches of the law, you are setting a dangerous precedent and sending the wrong message.”
DIG Counterterrorism Sindh, Omar Shahid Hamid, admitted that tackling riots was “difficult for the police” and a “negative impact” on officer morale was inevitable after the federal government decided to negotiate with their attackers.
“When police are targeted by miscreants in any such incident, obviously there is bound to be a negative impact on the morale of the forces,” he told Arab News.
Arif Rana, a spokesperson for police in Lahore, said more than 190 policemen had been injured and two killed in clashes with rioters at 31 locations across the city, but declined to comment on the impact the riots and subsequent events had had on the morale of the police force in the city.
Sindh Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Mehar and the Capital City Police Officer for Lahore, Ghulam Mehmood Dogar, did not respond to calls seeking comment for this article.
But Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said the government’s decision to discuss the expulsion of the French ambassador in parliament was not “capitulation.”
“Like all civilized and democratic societies, the government has agreed to discuss the matter in parliament and resolve it in line with the wishes of the Pakistani people,” Hussain told Arab News. “This shows the government’s firmness and resolve, not weakness.”
Though the interior ministry has announced that hundreds of TLP supporters involved in the violence had been released, Hussain said: “No one involved in attacks on police shall be released nor cases shall be withdrawn. State will never forget or forgive terrorists who attacked law enforcement agencies.”
Pir Ejaz Ashrafi, a central leader of the TLP, called for a “judicial commission” to be set up to probe clashes between police and protesters.
“This was totally unfortunate that police and protesters stood face to face at different places,” he told Arab News.




Policemen help an injured colleague during a clash with supporters of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party while they protest against the arrest of their leader in Lahore, Pakistan, on April 13, 2021. (AFP)

TLP first came to prominence as an organized force when it protested for the release of Mumtaz Qadri, a bodyguard who gunned down Salman Taseer, then governor of Punjab province, for seeking justice for a destitute Christian woman who had been jailed on blasphemy charges. The woman, Asia Bibi, was acquitted and released in 2019 after eight years on death row and has since fled Pakistan.
Qadri was eventually sentenced for killing Taseer and hanged in 2016, but since then, TLP has morphed into a political party that contested the 2018 general elections, campaigning to defend the blasphemy law. The party also has a history of staging protests and sit-ins to pressure the government to accept its demands.
In November 2017, TLP followers staged a 21-day protest and sit-in after a reference to the sanctity of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was removed from the text of a government form.
Zoha Waseem, a research scholar at the Institute for Global City Policing, said the latest protests and ensuing violence had highlighted the limitation of viewing riots simply as a “law-and-order problem.”
“This is a political challenge, it was a product of political developments in Pakistan, and a series of sociopolitical events in the country over the past several decades,” Waseem told Arab News.
She added: “This is not a failure of the police; it is the failure of inadequate and short-sighted state policies that imagine that such challenges can be dealt with force by law enforcement agencies … You simply cannot just ‘police’ [your way] out of this.”
“So, this will be a long-term challenge for the police,” Waseem said, “and I fear that if the state does not rethink its policies about radical groups that incite violence, we may see the police further pushed into a corner.”
For now, police officers in Punjab say they feel “betrayed” by the government.
“We were told that they [the government] were with us. We took a huge beating only on the promise that this time, they [TLP] are going to be tried in the courts under the anti-terror law,” a second Punjab police official based in Rawalpindi, who declined to be named, told Arab News.
“But in the end, it’s all the same,” the senior officer added. “In the end, if this is how things transpire... then what’s the point?”


Pakistan parliament approves bills to extend tenure of services chiefs to five years

Updated 04 November 2024
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Pakistan parliament approves bills to extend tenure of services chiefs to five years

  • Extension in services of army, navy and air force chiefs follows controversial amendments to the constitution last month
  • The opposition PTI party condemns the amendments for changing Pakistan “from a democracy into a monarchy”

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Assembly and Senate on Monday approved bills to extend the tenure of the army, navy, and air force chiefs from three to five years, amid protests by the opposition benches. 

The office of the army chief is considered to be the most powerful in the country, with the army having ruled Pakistan for almost half of its 75-year history. Even when not directly in power, the army is considered to be the invisible guiding hand in politics and holds considerable sway in internal security, foreign policy, and economic affairs, among other domains. 

Six bills were passed by the upper and lower houses on Monday evening, including one to increase the term of the services chiefs.

“In the said Act, in section 8A, in sub-section (1), for the expression “three (03)” the word “five (05)” shall be substituted,” read the bill, seeking to amend the Pakistan Army Act, 1952.

Similar bills were passed to increase the duration of the country’s naval and air force chiefs to five years also. 

“The purpose of these amendments are to make consistent the Pakistan Army Act, 1952 (XXXIX of 1952) The Pakistan Navy Ordinance, 1961 (Ordinance No. XXXV of 1961) and The Pakistan Air Force Act, 1953 (VI of 1953) with the maximum tenure of the Chief of the Army Staff, the Chief of the Naval Staff and the Chief of the Air Staff and to make consequential amendments for uniformity in the aforementioned laws.” 

Speaking outside parliament, the chairman of the opposition PTI party, Gohar Ali Khan, said:

“Today, democracy has been changed into a monarchy.”

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan, said “modifying the service chiefs’ tenure is not a good thing for the country and the armed forces.”

The passage of the new bills follows controversial amendments made to the constitution last month, granting lawmakers the authority to nominate the chief justice of Pakistan, who previously used to be automatically appointed according to the principle of seniority.

The amendments allowed the government to bypass the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, and appoint Justice Yahya Afridi as the country’s top judge, replacing former chief justice Qazi Faez Isa. 

The opposition and the legal fraternity had opposed the amendments, arguing that they were aimed at granting more power to the executive in making judicial appointments and curtailing the independence of the judiciary. The government denies this.


Pakistani forces kill six militants in shootouts near border with Afghanistan — military

Updated 04 November 2024
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Pakistani forces kill six militants in shootouts near border with Afghanistan — military

  • Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, has witnessed a number of attacks recently
  • Pakistan blames the surge in militancy on militants operating out of Afghanistan, Kabul denies the allegations

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces have killed six militants in two separate engagements in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the Pakistani military said on Monday.
A militant was killed in an exchange of fire during an intelligence-based operation in North Waziristan’s Dosali area, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.
In the second incident, Pakistani forces intercepted a group of militants while infiltrating the country’s border with Afghanistan in the South Waziristan district. Five militants were killed as a result.
“Pakistan has consistently been asking Interim Afghan Government to ensure effective border management on their side of the border,” the ISPR said in a statement.
“Interim Afghan Government is expected to fulfil its obligations and deny the use of Afghan soil by Khwarij [militants] for perpetuating acts of terrorism against Pakistan.”
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan, has witnessed a number of attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups that targeted security forces convoys and check posts, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials in recent months.
Pakistan has frequently accused neighboring Afghanistan of sheltering and supporting militant groups, urging the Taliban administration in Kabul to prevent its territory from being used by armed factions to launch cross-border attacks.
Afghan officials, however, deny involvement, insisting Pakistan’s security issues are an internal matter of Islamabad.
 


Pakistan Navy test-fires ship-launched ballistic missile ranging 350 kilometers

Updated 04 November 2024
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Pakistan Navy test-fires ship-launched ballistic missile ranging 350 kilometers

  • The missile is capable of striking land and sea targets with ‘high precision’
  • Pakistan, India consider their missile programs as deterrent against each other

KARACHI: Pakistan Navy has successfully test-fired a ship-launched ballistic missile having a range of 350 km and capable of striking both land and sea targets, it said on Monday.
Pakistan sees its missile development as a deterrent against nuclear-armed arch-foe India. Both countries have fought multiple wars since their independence from Britain in 1947.
The two South Asian neighbors have long been developing missiles of varying ranges in a bid to ensure deterrence against possible attacks from each other, with analysts often warning these developments could push the region into an arms race.
“Pakistan Navy conducted a successful flight test of an indigenously developed ship-launched ballistic missile,” the Directorate General of Public Relations (DGPR) of Pakistan Navy said in a statement.
“The weapon system with 350km range is capable of engaging land and sea targets with high precision.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikldB3jieWo
The flight test of the weapon system, equipped with a state-of-the-art navigation system and maneuverability features, was witnessed by Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf, senior naval officers, scientists and engineers.
President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir and Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu congratulated the participating navy units and scientists on the development.
 
 


Qatar investment team due in Pakistan this month, PM Sharif says after Doha visit

Updated 04 November 2024
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Qatar investment team due in Pakistan this month, PM Sharif says after Doha visit

  • The statement comes days after Sharif visited Qatar seeking to bolster economic cooperation between both nations
  • Before arriving in Doha, Sharif attended the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh and met the Saudi Crown Prince

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday a team of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) will visit Pakistan this month to set up an information technology (IT) park in the South Asian country.
The statement came days after Sharif visited Qatar while seeking to bolster economic cooperation amid Pakistan’s efforts to boost foreign investment to stabilize its frail $350 billion economy.
Before arriving in Doha, Sharif attended the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he discussed trade and investment with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Speaking at a meeting of his cabinet, Sharif said a QIA team will visit Pakistan this month, while its chief of Asia-Pacific & Africa Investments, Faisal Bin Thani Al Thani, will also arrive in Islamabad by the end of this month.
“Qatar emir said the same thing. They also suggested setting up an IT park here [in Pakistan],” Sharif told his cabinet members in televised comments.
During his visit, Sharif led delegation-level talks with the Qatari emir before holding a separate meeting with him to discuss a wide array of issues.
“The leaders reviewed the entire spectrum of Pakistan-Qatar relations, exploring potential avenues for enhanced cooperation in trade, potential areas of investment, energy, and culture,” Sharif’s office said last week.
He also met a delegation of the Qatar Businessmen Association (QBA) and invited them to invest in Pakistan’s energy, infrastructure and technology sectors.
The developments came amid Pakistan’s attempts to increase trade and foreign investment after it narrowly escaped a default last year by securing a last-gasp $3 billion financial assistance package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The South Asian country has since sought to promote closer economic ties with regional and international allies to bolster its fragile economy, which has been suffering from a prolonged macroeconomic crisis.
 


Pakistan central bank cuts key rate by 250 bps to 15%

Updated 04 November 2024
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Pakistan central bank cuts key rate by 250 bps to 15%

  • Monday’s move follows cuts of 150 bps in June, 100 in July and 200 in September
  • It takes the total policy rate cuts in the country to 700 bps in under five months

KARACHI: Pakistan’s central bank cut its key policy rate by 250 basis points to 15 percent on Monday, it said in a statement, for a fourth straight reduction since June, as the country keeps up efforts to revive a sluggish economy with inflation easing.
Most respondents in a Reuters poll last week expected a cut of 200 bps after inflation moved down sharply from a multi-decade high of nearly 40 percent in May 2023, saying reductions were needed to bolster growth.
Average consumer price index inflation in the South Asian country is 8.7 percent in the current financial year, which started in July, the statistics bureau says. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects inflation to average 9.5 percent for the year ending June.
Monday’s move follows cuts of 150 bps in June, 100 bps in July, and 200 in September that have taken the rate from an all-time high of 22 percent, set in June 2023 and left unchanged for a year. It takes the total cuts to 700 bps in under five months.
October inflation came in at 7.2 percent, slightly above the government’s expectation of 6 percent to 7 percent. The finance ministry expects inflation to slow further to 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent in November.
However, inflation could pick up again in 2025, driven by electricity and gas price increases after a new $7-billion IMF bailout, and the potential impact of taxes on the retail, wholesale and the farm sector announced in the June budget to take effect in January 2025, some analysts say.