News desk :
Fresh clashes erupted Monday morning between police and hundreds of anti-government protesters who forcibly entered the heavily-guarded Pakistan Secretariat here after breaking its gate, hours after the powerful military asked all parties to peacefully resolve the political crisis.
After a brief calm due to overnight rain, the protesters armed with clubs and sticks Monday morning broke the gate and entered the premises of the secretariat, defying calls from the army personnel not to enter inside the building.
Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas shells to push them back but remained unsuccessful. The protesters damaged vehicles of employees of the secretariat.
The fresh clashes came hours after an emergency meeting of army corps commanders last night who expressed serious concern over the prevailing political turmoil in the country with the government of embattled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif locked in a showdown with Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan and Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Tahir-ul Qadiri.
Amid the political chaos, the country’s powerful army chief Raheel Sharif met the beleaguered Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. No statement was issued after their meeting in the capital.
Pakistan is preparing to launch a selective crackdown against anti-government protesters the defense minister said, warning demonstrators against storming government buildings.
Dashing chances of a peace deal between the government and protest leaders Imran Khan and Tahir ul-Qadri, protesters stormed the state television building and have also tried to march on Sharif’s residence in central Islamabad.
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told Reuters in an interview at his house hours after the storming of the state television building the government would not hesitate to enforce its writ and was considering cracking down against those attacking state institutions.
“If not mass arrests, selective use of force can be used,” Asif said, describing one option the government may decide to exercise following a meeting between Sharif and his top aides.
“The writ of the state must be enforced. We hope to make a decisive move sometimes later today, not in the evening but even before that,” he said. “I personally feel that the next few hours will determine the course of coming events.”
With tension rising, the army said it was asked by the government to help defuse the crisis. It was unclear how the deadlock could be resolved with the opposition flatly refusing to leave the streets until Sharif quits.
Asif said Sharif’s resignation was out of the question.
“Chances of the PM resigning? Zero,” he said.
Asked about the chances of the military launching a coup, he said: “Zero. Absolutely zero.”
This time, few observers expect the army to try to grab power again but it might feel forced to step in in some way if violence on the streets gets out of hand.
The demonstrations come at a difficult time for Pakistan, already plagued by an Islamist insurgency, sectarian tension and recurrent power shortages. Many Pakistanis are deeply unhappy with the government’s performance.
For Asif, military intervention would be the worst-case-scenario.
“The worst thing that could happen is if something happens outside the limits of the constitution,” he said. “Anything which is not according to the constitution and which is not according to settled principles of law.”
The Pakistani government has already slapped a case against two opposition leaders at the centre of the anti-government protests that has seen the state television headquarters in the capital stormed earlier in the day.
Police station secretariat in Islamabad has registered a case under anti-terrorism act against politician Imran Khan, religious leader Tahir-ul-Qadri and hundreds of their supporters for organising riots, damaging state buildings and attacking security forces.
Anti-government protesters briefly occupied the building of state television, PTV and cut transmissions of the broadcaster’s news services in Urdu and English for 45 minutes. Transmission was resumed after paramilitary soldiers arrived at the building and cleared it.
