Saturday night (August 30, 2014) was a dark time in Pakistan’s history. Spurred on by Tahirul Qadri and Imran
Khan, workers from the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and Pakistan
Teheek-e-Insaaf (PTI) formed a mob and attacked the Prime Minister’s (PM’s)
House and the fenced compound that encloses the houses of parliament and the
presidency. Veteran human rights campaigner Asma Jehangir, whose moral stature
towers above these two riot instigators, had it right when she told a local
television channel: “There is no such thing as peaceful banditry.” Imran Khan
and Tahirul Qadri, despite their numerous claims of wanting peaceful protest,
engaged instead in one of the most disgusting spectacles of mob violence this
country has had the misfortune of seeing.
Saturday
night’s events have already become obscured by controversy, but the sequence of
events shows precisely where responsibility lies for the injuries and deaths
among rioters and the police, and the destruction of public property. After
presenting yet another deadline to the government for the PM’s resignation,
Tahirul Qadri led from behind and ordered his workers to march towards the PM’s
House while he sat in his car. Imran Khan had previously said he would not join
in the invasion, making promises to the government and the military that these
areas would remain sacrosanct. However, at the last minute, and reportedly
against the majority consensus in his party, he decided to join his workers to
Tahirul Qadri’s. They also told their workers to begin protests in other
cities. The combined mob began to press towards the PM’s residence, but
diverted and began leaping over and breaking the gates and fences surrounding
parliament and the presidency.
After the
police retreated literally to the doors of the presidency, this was the line
drawn in the sand that the government could not ignore and when the mob turned
towards the buildings, the police were forced to teargas them and drive them
off the premises. The mob responded by attacking the police, using batons and
rocks and the situation soon devolved into a full scale riot on the presidency
grounds. Reportedly the protestors tried to force their way into the National
Assembly (NA) but retreated when they saw the doors were guarded by army and
Rangers personnel. No doubt they were told by their leadership not to engage
the military. However, engaging the police was more than enough to turn the
parliament grounds and Constitution Avenue into a veritable warzone, with
rioters bent on causing destruction after being left with no clear goal in
mind. In Lahore a mob assembled at Liberty Roundabout and began trashing
storefronts and looting.
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The country is
now poised on the brink of an uncertain future and the situation is grave
enough that COAS General Raheel Shareef moved up a corps commanders meeting to
Sunday evening to discuss it. He must order the army to do its duty and protect
the official residence of its commander-in-chief. With another battle in
Islamabad looming, the next 24 hours may decide the future of this country.
Courtesy:
Daily Times
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