Ex-PM Khan’s anti-government march enters Islamabad after daylong struggle

Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan, waves to supporters during a protest rally in Attock, Pakistan, on May 25, 2022. (AFP)
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Updated 26 May 2022
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Ex-PM Khan’s anti-government march enters Islamabad after daylong struggle

  • Negotiations between government and Khan’s party could not take place despite court orders
  • Police say Khan supporters burnt trees, metro station near the business hub of the city

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan and his convoy of vehicles and supporters entered the federal capital on Wednesday night to hold an anti-government rally after a long day of political drama that included clashes between demonstrators and police, and the arrests of hundreds of Khan supporters across the country.

Khan’s caravan was close to Islamabad when he called on his supporters to reach the D-Chowk protest spot near the country’s parliament building and other sensitive government installations, saying he would stay there until the assemblies were dissolved and an election date was announced.

Khan was removed from office in a vote of no-confidence last month after losing his majority in parliament. Subsequently, he held several public rallies across the country saying his ouster was part of a Washington-backed foreign conspiracy while refusing to recognize the new government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The US has denied the allegations.

“Public welcome on entering Islamabad,” Khan’s close aide Shahbaz Gill said in a Twitter post while sharing a video clip of fireworks.

Khan started his anti-government march from Peshawar on Wednesday morning while the government blocked all roads leading to the federal capital and was rounding up workers and supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the government to designate a ground near the H-9 sector in Islamabad for the PTI protest rally while hearing a petition for the removal of road blocks in the city. It also ordered authorities not to arrest political workers and hold consultations with a PTI committee to discuss the modalities of their protest in the federal capital.

Videos shot by an Arab News reporter on Wednesday evening showed thousands of Khan supporters walking down the capital’s Blue Area business zone toward D-Chowk while police fired tear gas at, and baton charged, them. Supporters had lit fires all the way down the road to D-Chowk in an apparent bid to neutralize the effects of the tear gas but Islamabad police said on Twitter they had set fire to trees and vehicles.

“Police called the fire brigade. Some places were set on fire while the protesters again set the trees on the Express Chowk,” police said. “Security in the Red Zone has been beefed up,” police added, referring to an area in Islamabad where government, judiciary and legislature buildings are located.

Video clips on social media platforms also showed a burning metro station in the city surrounded by hundreds of PTI supporters.




Supporters of Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan, take part in a protest rally amid tear gas smoke in front of the parliament building in Islamabad on May 25, 2022. (AFP)

According to the head of the government’s negotiating team, Ayaz Sadiq, talks could not be held with members of Khan’s political party since they did not show up at the designated place at the stipulated time.

“If we do not implement the directives of the Supreme Court, it will be seen as contempt be of court,” he said. “Now that we have implemented the order, you can see what is happening.”




Police use tear gas to disperse supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party of ousted prime minister Imran Khan during a protest in Lahore on May 23, 2022. (AFP)

He said the top court should take action against what was happening in the city.

“Despite the Supreme Court’s directives, Imran Khan has been asking his supporters to reach D-Chowk,” he said. “In light of the apex court’s ruling, the government removed containers and opened the roads and because of that these people have reached D-Chowk and Red Zone.”

Khan had said earlier in the day there was no possibility of a deal with the government on calling off or limiting the rally.

“We are moving toward Islamabad & no question of any deal. We will remain in Islamabad till announcement of dates for dissolution of assemblies & elections are given.”

“God willing we have to reach D-Chowk Islamabad, no hurdle can stop us,” Khan said in an address to supporters in Swabi en route Islamabad.

CLASHES, ROAD BLOCKS, ARRESTS

Videos circulating on social media and broadcast on local TV channels early in the day showed police clashing with protesters in Lahore and Islamabad, with Punjab police using tear gas on demonstrators in Lahore and baton charging them in the capital. 

PTI supporters and police also clashed in Gujranwala when the latter tried to stop protesters with barricades but the marchers forced their way through the obstructions.

According to PTI’s Gujranwala General Secretary Tariq Gujjar, 150 people from the caravan had been taken into custody.

Clashes were reported in Karachi as well in which at least two video journalists were injured.

All major roads linking the Punjab province with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from where Khan started his march were blocked with barricades. Police and district officials blocked the GT Road highway with shipping containers over the Attock Khurd Bridge which marks the border between Punjab and KP. Media reported intense tear gas shelling on the bridge by anti-riot police in the late afternoon on Wednesday.

The motorway M1 connecting the two provinces was also blocked off and other motorways traversing Punjab, including M2, were blocked at several places.

Section 144, which bans large public gatherings, was imposed on Tuesday in Lahore, the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad and Karachi, as well as other major cities in the country, while the Punjab government has called in the paramilitary Rangers to keep law and order.

Former Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood from Khan’s PTI said police had raided his house in the early morning hours of Wednesday.

“Police barged into my house without a warrant while I was not there. Do they really think these tactics would intimidate us?”

Meanwhile, PTI Senator Ejaz Chaudhary was arrested after the Punjab government said weapons were recovered from the vehicles of PTI’s Lahore office bearers.

An admin for Chaudhry’s account tweeted:

A number of other PTI office bearers were also arrested.


Pakistan says operation launched in southwest against separatists behind August assault

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Pakistan says operation launched in southwest against separatists behind August assault

  • Outlawed BLA claimed responsibility for string of coordinated attacks on Aug 25-26 in which over 50 people killed
  • Former separatist who recently surrendered to authorities addresses press conference but unclear if spoke freely

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has launched an armed operation in its southwestern Balochistan province against separatist militants who were behind multiple attacks in August in which more than 50 people, civilians and security officials, were killed, a senior counterterrorism officer said on Friday.
The outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army group claimed responsibility for the attacks, most of which occurred on the night of Aug. 25-26 and indicated that the BLA, which has targeted security forces for years in small-scale attacks and is allied with the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), is now much more organized.
Speaking to media on Friday, Counterterrorism Department DIG Aitzaz Ahmed Goraya said two militants had been arrested and three killed in an operation over the weekend in connection with investigations into the August attacks. The two arrested militants had provided, among other leads, information on how the attacks were planned and carried out, where the funding came from, who the local facilitators of the insurgents were and where their hideouts in the mountains of Balochistan were located, Goraya said. 
“Now as I speak to you, based on the information, an operation has been launched since the last two days in Duki, Loralai and surrounding districts in which Frontier Corps, CTD, Levies, police and others are taking part,” the CTD official told reporters. 
The press conference was also addressed by a Baloch man who identified himself as Talal Aziz and said he had surrendered to authorities after a brief stint as a separatist. 
He did not specify when he had turned himself in and it was unclear under what circumstances he addressed the press conference and whether he spoke freely or under pressure from state authorities in Balochistan, a resource-rich but impoverished province where separatist militants have been fighting a decades-long insurgency to win secession of the region. Insurgents say they are fighting what they see as the unfair exploitation of the province’s mineral and gas wealth by the federation at the center. 
The Pakistani government and military deny they are exploiting Balochistan and have long maintained that neighbors such as India, Afghanistan and Iran foment trouble in the remote province and support and fund the insurgency there. 
Pakistan’s largest province, Balochistan borders Iran and Afghanistan and is home to major China-led projects such as a strategic port and a gold and copper mine. 
Speaking to media, Aziz said he had studied in Quetta and Sibi before getting a scholarship to pursue higher education at the Punjab University in the eastern city of Lahore, where he met some students from Balochistan.
“They convinced me to take up arms for the independence of Balochistan,” Aziz said, saying that later, when he went back to Balochistan during university holidays, some friends pushed him to attend a protest by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) where he was introduced to some dissidents. 
The group says it is a human and ethnic rights movement established in response to alleged state human rights abuses in Balochistan but Pakistan’s government and army have repeatedly called it a “terrorist proxy.”
Aziz said after the BYC sit-in, he became convinced to join militants at their mountain hideouts where he claimed he met many other educated, young people like himself who had been similarly “brainwashed.” There, Aziz said he learnt that the purpose of the Baloch militants was to plot the killings of ethnic Punjabis in Balochistan, who they consider outsiders, and he soon realized that he did not want to be part of any such agenda. He then ran away and surrendered to the authorities.
“These terrorists only wanted to lead Baloch people astray and try to break up Pakistan,” Aziz concluded. 
The rise of separatist attacks in bBalochistan poses a major challenge for the weak coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, which is battling an economic crisis and political instability as well as a rise in militant violence by both religiously motivated and separatist groups across the country. 
Balochistan is also currently in the grips of civil rights protests by young ethnic Baloch who are calling for an end to what they describe as a pattern of enforced disappearances and other human rights abuses by security forces, who deny the charge.


Pakistan eyes $25 billion IT exports in three years, 5G rollout despite roadblocks 

Updated 08 November 2024
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Pakistan eyes $25 billion IT exports in three years, 5G rollout despite roadblocks 

  • Pakistan’s IT exports face significant challenges due to Internet connectivity issues stemming from firewall installations to regulate content
  • In August, the Pakistan Software Houses Association said the country’s economy could lose up to $300 million due to Internet disruptions

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday reaffirmed Pakistan’s ambitions to boost its information technology (IT) exports to $25 billion in the next three years and to roll out 5G Internet services, despite challenges from firewall installations.
The Pakistan prime minister expressed these plans during his meeting with a delegation of VEON, an Amsterdam-based multinational telecommunication and digital services company, led by its chairman Augie K. Fabela, to discuss his government’s efforts to “develop and promote” the telecommunications sector, according to Sharif’s office.
The South Asian country’s IT exports face significant challenges due to Internet connectivity issues stemming from firewall installations to regulate content and social media platforms that hinder the ability of local tech firms to communicate with international clients. This results in delayed deliveries, loss of business opportunities and a tarnished reputation for Pakistan’s IT industry, ultimately stifling growth and costing millions of rupees in losses.
In August, the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) said the country’s economy could lose up to $300 million due to Internet disruptions caused by the imposition of the firewall. However, State Minister for IT Shaza Khawaja repeatedly denied the use of firewalls by the government as a form of censorship.
“We are determined to achieve the target of increasing IT exports from Pakistan to 25 billion dollars in the next three years,” Sharif was quoted as saying by his office. “Steps are being taken to introduce 5G Internet services for faster and reliable Internet services in Pakistan.”
Sharif said the rollout of 5G services would make it possible for his government to achieve the vision of “Digital Pakistan.” He said the telecommunications sector would play an important role in promoting a cashless and digital economy, praising the work of a VEON subsidiary, Jazz Group, and expressing his government’s willingness to promote IT, digitization and artificial intelligence (AI) in Pakistan.
The visiting delegation appreciated the Pakistani government’s efforts to stabilize the economy and termed Pakistan an important country for investment in the IT sector, according to Sharif’s office.
Pakistan recorded $298 million in IT exports in June, up 33 percent from the year before. During the fiscal year that ended in June, Pakistan recorded overall IT exports of $3.2 billion, up 24 percent from $2.5 billion in the previous year.
The South Asian nation has lately encouraged its IT sector and facilitated collaborations with firms in several countries, including Saudi Arabia, China and Qatar, to boost its IT exports.
However, IT-related associations and businesses this year raised alarm over slowing Internet speeds as the federal government moved to implement the nationwide firewall to block malicious content, protect government networks from attacks, and allow authorities to identify addresses associated with what it calls “anti-state propaganda.”
In August, the Pakistan Business Council warned that frequent Internet disruptions and low speeds caused by poor implementation of the firewall had led many multinational companies to consider relocating their offices out of Pakistan, with some having “already done so.”


Pakistan’s Punjab province shuts public spaces in smog-hit cities

Updated 08 November 2024
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Pakistan’s Punjab province shuts public spaces in smog-hit cities

  • Access to parks, zoos, playgrounds, historic monuments, museums and recreational areas will be banned until Nov. 17
  • Punjab residents have been trapped in thick smog for over a week ever since the air quality index spiked above 1,000

LAHORE: Pakistan’s most populated province of Punjab ordered public spaces closed in smog-hit main cities, authorities said Friday, as the country battles record air pollution.

Access to parks, zoos, playgrounds, historic monuments, museums and recreational areas will be banned until November 17 due to poor air quality, according to a local government directive seen by AFP.

The concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Lahore’s air was more than 20 times higher than the level deemed acceptable by the World Health Organization (WHO). In Multan, it was up to 48 times higher on Friday.

Punjab residents have been trapped in thick smog for over a week ever since the air quality index (AQI), which measures a range of pollutants, spiked above 1,000 — well above the level of 300 considered ‘dangerous’ — according to data from IQAir.

Schools in some of Punjab’s major cities were ordered shut on Tuesday until November 17.

The province extended that order on Wednesday to several more cities enveloped by smog, a mix of fog and pollutants caused by low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from seasonal agricultural burning and winter cooling.

The decision follows restrictions imposed last month on four “hot spots” in Lahore that banned tuk-tuks with polluting two-stroke engines, along with restaurants that operate barbecues without filters.

Seasonal crop burn-off by farmers on the outskirts of Lahore also contributes to toxic air, which the WHO says can cause strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory diseases.

Excess pollution shortens the life expectancy of Lahore residents by an average of 7.5 years, according to the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute.

According to UNICEF, nearly 600 million children in South Asia are exposed to high levels of air pollution, which is also linked to half of childhood pneumonia deaths.


Pakistan can serve as bridge between China and US — Islamabad envoy to Washington

Updated 08 November 2024
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Pakistan can serve as bridge between China and US — Islamabad envoy to Washington

  • Relations between the US and China have been strained over the past several years as both world powers seek to increase their global influence
  • The complex US-China rivalry impacts Pakistan as it navigates its strategic partnerships with both while grappling with a prolonged economic crisis

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan can help bridge differences between the United States (US) and China, Islamabad’s envoy to Washington said on Thursday, amid the South Asian country’s efforts to strike a balance in its ties with the two world powers.
Relations between the US and China have been strained over the past several years as both world powers seek to increase their global influence in several domains. The two nations have often had disagreements over trade, Taiwan, the South China Sea and China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Pakistan maintains a delicate balance in its relations with China and the US. While aligned with the US for military cooperation and counter-terrorism efforts, Islamabad has strengthened economic ties with Beijing through initiatives like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
In a talk delivered at the University of California, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Washington Rizwan Saeed Sheikh underscored the strength of Pakistan-US relations and highlighted the role of the Pakistani-American community in fostering mutual growth, the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
“Pakistan has the potential to serve as a bridge between China and the United States,” Sheikh was quoted as saying at the event.
The statement came hours after the Pakistani Foreign Office said its relations with key longtime ally China would remain “unaffected” by Donald Trump winning the US presidential election
“Pakistan’s relations with China are all-weather,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said during a weekly press briefing when asked if Trump’s victory will affect the country’s China policy.
“They are strategic and a source of stability in our foreign policy.”
Baloch said Islamabad does not even need to consider the possibility that its relationship with China will be affected by any domestic development in another country.
The complex US-China rivalry impacts Pakistan as it navigates its strategic partnerships with both world powers while grappling with a prolonged economic crisis.
“Our relations with the United States are decades old, and we look forward to further strengthen and broaden Pakistan-US relationship in all fields,” Baloch said.
“As the Deputy Prime Minister said in a tweet yesterday, we look forward to fruitful and mutually beneficial cooperation between Pakistan and the United States.”
Pakistan and the US cultivated strong defense ties during the Cold War days yet their relationship was also tested by divergent priorities on various issues.
In recent years, Washington and Islamabad’s ties deteriorated as the former suspected the latter of supporting the Taliban in their 2021 takeover of Kabul, allegations which Islamabad rejected. Tensions rose further in 2022 when former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan accused the Biden administration of orchestrating his ouster via a parliamentary vote, a charge the US denied.
Pakistan, under PM Shehbaz Sharif’s two separate stints as prime minister in 2022 and 2024, has actively sought to improve its relations with the US.


Pakistan parliamentary panel passes bill proposing three-year jail term for preaching Zionism

Updated 08 November 2024
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Pakistan parliamentary panel passes bill proposing three-year jail term for preaching Zionism

  • Draft law proposes imprisonment and fines for individuals involved in preaching and displaying symbols of Zionism
  • Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Senate Standing Committee on Interior has this week approved a bill proposing a three-year jail term and fines for individuals involved in propagating Zionism or displaying the movement’s symbols.
Zionism emerged in the late 19th century as an ethnic and religious movement but later converted into a political movement for the establishment of the Jewish state of Israel through the colonization of land outside Europe, which is Palestine. 
Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
The anti-Zionism bill approved by the Senate committee on Thursday was introduced in the upper house of parliament by Senator Dr. Afnan Ullah Khan, a lawmaker from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party. He has tabled the bill as a private member, which means its approval does not signify government policy. This bill will become law only if it is passed by both houses of parliament, Senate and National Assembly, with majority vote.
“Whoever knowingly or intentionally is engaged in the preaching of Zionism to incite and provoke hatred in society shall be punished with three years imprisonment, or with forty thousand rupees ($145) fine or with both,” says the draft law.
“Whoever knowingly or intentionally display symbol of Zionism to spread hatred and cause a disturbance in public peace shall be punished with two years imprisonment, or with thirty thousand rupees ($108) fine, or with both.”
Being a Muslim state, the bill says, Pakistan “should never allow display of symbols depicting Zionism for spreading unrest in Pakistan.”