AP :
Pakistani police arrested hundreds of supporters of opposition parties ahead of a planned rally Monday calling for the country’s prime minister to resign, a move the government defended as necessary to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
Police acknowledged arresting over 370 people, while opposition groups put the number at more than 1,800 in Multan, a city in central Pakistan where authorities had switched off the area’s mobile phone network.
Security forces placed shipping containers on major roads Sunday night to block off the path to a public park where the opposition planned to protest against Prime Minister Imran Khan. Opposition leaders marched to the park despite that, setting off clashes that led to the arrests.
Those arrested included Ali Musa Gillani, the son of a former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. The streets remain tense Monday ahead of the planned rally time.
Khan’s government blamed the pandemic as the reason for blocking the protest, though security forces over recent
months have repeatedly disrupted opposition events and arrested its leaders. The pandemic so far has infected a reported 398,000 people and killed over 8,000 since February.
“The opposition is doing politics at the cost of people’s lives,” government spokeswoman Firdous Ashiq Awan said.
The rally was expected to draw Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has been living in exile in London since 2019 after leaving Pakistan on a court order allowing his medical treatment abroad.
Pakistani police arrested hundreds of supporters of opposition parties ahead of a planned rally Monday calling for the country’s prime minister to resign, a move the government defended as necessary to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
Police acknowledged arresting over 370 people, while opposition groups put the number at more than 1,800 in Multan, a city in central Pakistan where authorities had switched off the area’s mobile phone network.
Security forces placed shipping containers on major roads Sunday night to block off the path to a public park where the opposition planned to protest against Prime Minister Imran Khan. Opposition leaders marched to the park despite that, setting off clashes that led to the arrests.
Those arrested included Ali Musa Gillani, the son of a former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. The streets remain tense Monday ahead of the planned rally time.
Khan’s government blamed the pandemic as the reason for blocking the protest, though security forces over recent
months have repeatedly disrupted opposition events and arrested its leaders. The pandemic so far has infected a reported 398,000 people and killed over 8,000 since February.
“The opposition is doing politics at the cost of people’s lives,” government spokeswoman Firdous Ashiq Awan said.
The rally was expected to draw Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has been living in exile in London since 2019 after leaving Pakistan on a court order allowing his medical treatment abroad.
