On March 27, thousands of men who had gathered in Rawalpindi to commemorate the death of Mumtaz Qadri – a former policeman hanged on February 29 for assassinating Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer – decided to march towards Islamabad.
Appearing to have been caught off guard, law-enforcement agencies tried to stop the procession from entering the federal capital at six different locations – primarily at Chandni Chowk, Shamabad, and Faizabad – but failed.
Police used batons to stop the marchers, and fired tear gas at them. They responded by throwing stones at the police. At least 53 people were injured in the clashes from Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi to D-Chowk in Islamabad, including 32 policemen and around a dozen paramilitary troops.
The administration had blocked the roads leading to Islamabad’s sensitive Red Zone using large empty containers. The men removed some and set fire to others. Along the way, they also set fire to three automobiles and three motorcycles.
A mob attacked the Metro Bus Station at Islamabad’s China Chowk, and damaged public and private property in Blue Area. About 6,000 protesters succeeded in reaching Islamabad’s Red Zone. Army troops was deployed in the area to guard important buildings, and mobile phones signals were jammed.
This was happening while a bomb in Lahore had killed more than 70 people visiting a park on the Easter weekend, most of them women and children.
“The police did not try to stop the marchers,” says former diplomat and political analyst Zafar Hilali. “Like the government, they were afraid of the protesters.” He said such protests, especially in the federal capital, were sending the wrong messages to the world. “Due to such elements, the world community doubts the role of Pakistan in the war on terror and the sacrifices of our security forces.”
Journalist Azaz Syed said no proper measures had been taken to keep protesters out of the capital. According to him, the Islamabad police did not have the capacity to stop the demonstrators from entering Islamabad. “The federal government is not ready to invest in Islamabad police,” he said.
Defence analyst Dr Ayesha Siddiqa disagreed. She said certain elements are trying to build an impression that police were incapable of control such situations. “That is not true,” she said. “The police controlled around 300,000 people on the occasion of Mumtaz Qadri’s funeral. They do have the capacity to tackle a handful of protestors.” She said Punjab police had intelligence information, and had the capacity to control the mob. “It is some other force that is making them ineffective. We have to figure that out.”
A source said the Intelligence Bureau and the Special Branch of police in Islamabad and Rawalpindi had warned the Interior Ministry about the plans of the demonstrators to march towards the Red Zone.
On Sunday, the marchers decided to settle down when they reached D-Chowk, and announced a sit-in until a set of demands would be met.
When I visited the site on Tuesday, the crowd had reduced to a little more than a thousand. On my way, I saw broken windows, benches, water coolers, wall fans, shades and other equipment at the nearby Metro Bus station.
The protesters at the sit-in were demographically not as diverse as the crowds at the sit-in in the same location by popular opposition politician Imran Khan and cleric Tahirul Qadri last year.
At the entrance to the area, visitors were being welcomed by ‘volunteers’ with sticks and iron rods in their hands. The people who did not appear to be from among them were asked the purpose of their visit. Because they were unhappy that the media had not given them appropriate coverage, they were not very warm towards reporters.
Many journalists were too scared to visit the area. The protesters had to resort to videotaping their concerns on their mobile phones and share them on social media websites. Some of them, people complained, contained abusive and offensive language. Visitors did not video-record the sit in. The slogans painted on the walls, poles and the containers, and even on the road, were not very polite either.
Inside the arena, broken sign boards and pieces of metal were scattered everywhere. They had also placed a destroyed motorcycle in the arena.
Their anger had been fanned by a scarcity of food and water. “The government doesn’t allow vehicles to bring food and water for us,” one demonstrator told me. “We are hungry,” the cleric from central Punjab said, “but we don’t care.”
There were no toilets close by either. That, and the garbage brought in – such as plastic bags and water bottles – had polluted the area.
Some protesters had even damaged plants and trees, and some tried to set several uprooted trees on fire on the side of Jinnah Avenue.
“It had been a challenge cleaning up the area after the previous sit-in,” according to Said Bacha, an employee of capital development authority. “We will have to do it once again.”
The residents of the F-6/1 sector were concerned. “We are restricted to our homes, our children are scared and their studies are being disturbed,” said Noor Muhammad, a government employee who lives near D-Chowk. He said that the protest had shut down business in the eastern part of the Blue Area.
By Wednesday night, the demonstrators began to go home, after successful negotiations between their leaders and the government. There were fears of a violent police action, but the matter was resolved after an unwritten agreement that their concerns would be addressed.
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said that the leadership of Barelvis had pledged in a written agreement that they would disperse after their event. They did not honor their commitment, he said.
But since a majority of the demonstrators were innocent people, he said the government would not use force against them. “Soon they will return to their homes,” he said.
But he warned that the government would take stern action against those who instigated or carried out acts of violence.
Appearing to have been caught off guard, law-enforcement agencies tried to stop the procession from entering the federal capital at six different locations – primarily at Chandni Chowk, Shamabad, and Faizabad – but failed.
Police used batons to stop the marchers, and fired tear gas at them. They responded by throwing stones at the police. At least 53 people were injured in the clashes from Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi to D-Chowk in Islamabad, including 32 policemen and around a dozen paramilitary troops.
The administration had blocked the roads leading to Islamabad’s sensitive Red Zone using large empty containers. The men removed some and set fire to others. Along the way, they also set fire to three automobiles and three motorcycles.
A mob attacked the Metro Bus Station at Islamabad’s China Chowk, and damaged public and private property in Blue Area. About 6,000 protesters succeeded in reaching Islamabad’s Red Zone. Army troops was deployed in the area to guard important buildings, and mobile phones signals were jammed.
Visitors were being welcomed by baton-wielding volunteers
This was happening while a bomb in Lahore had killed more than 70 people visiting a park on the Easter weekend, most of them women and children.
“The police did not try to stop the marchers,” says former diplomat and political analyst Zafar Hilali. “Like the government, they were afraid of the protesters.” He said such protests, especially in the federal capital, were sending the wrong messages to the world. “Due to such elements, the world community doubts the role of Pakistan in the war on terror and the sacrifices of our security forces.”
Journalist Azaz Syed said no proper measures had been taken to keep protesters out of the capital. According to him, the Islamabad police did not have the capacity to stop the demonstrators from entering Islamabad. “The federal government is not ready to invest in Islamabad police,” he said.
Defence analyst Dr Ayesha Siddiqa disagreed. She said certain elements are trying to build an impression that police were incapable of control such situations. “That is not true,” she said. “The police controlled around 300,000 people on the occasion of Mumtaz Qadri’s funeral. They do have the capacity to tackle a handful of protestors.” She said Punjab police had intelligence information, and had the capacity to control the mob. “It is some other force that is making them ineffective. We have to figure that out.”
A source said the Intelligence Bureau and the Special Branch of police in Islamabad and Rawalpindi had warned the Interior Ministry about the plans of the demonstrators to march towards the Red Zone.
On Sunday, the marchers decided to settle down when they reached D-Chowk, and announced a sit-in until a set of demands would be met.
When I visited the site on Tuesday, the crowd had reduced to a little more than a thousand. On my way, I saw broken windows, benches, water coolers, wall fans, shades and other equipment at the nearby Metro Bus station.
The protesters at the sit-in were demographically not as diverse as the crowds at the sit-in in the same location by popular opposition politician Imran Khan and cleric Tahirul Qadri last year.
At the entrance to the area, visitors were being welcomed by ‘volunteers’ with sticks and iron rods in their hands. The people who did not appear to be from among them were asked the purpose of their visit. Because they were unhappy that the media had not given them appropriate coverage, they were not very warm towards reporters.
Many journalists were too scared to visit the area. The protesters had to resort to videotaping their concerns on their mobile phones and share them on social media websites. Some of them, people complained, contained abusive and offensive language. Visitors did not video-record the sit in. The slogans painted on the walls, poles and the containers, and even on the road, were not very polite either.
Inside the arena, broken sign boards and pieces of metal were scattered everywhere. They had also placed a destroyed motorcycle in the arena.
Their anger had been fanned by a scarcity of food and water. “The government doesn’t allow vehicles to bring food and water for us,” one demonstrator told me. “We are hungry,” the cleric from central Punjab said, “but we don’t care.”
There were no toilets close by either. That, and the garbage brought in – such as plastic bags and water bottles – had polluted the area.
Some protesters had even damaged plants and trees, and some tried to set several uprooted trees on fire on the side of Jinnah Avenue.
“It had been a challenge cleaning up the area after the previous sit-in,” according to Said Bacha, an employee of capital development authority. “We will have to do it once again.”
The residents of the F-6/1 sector were concerned. “We are restricted to our homes, our children are scared and their studies are being disturbed,” said Noor Muhammad, a government employee who lives near D-Chowk. He said that the protest had shut down business in the eastern part of the Blue Area.
By Wednesday night, the demonstrators began to go home, after successful negotiations between their leaders and the government. There were fears of a violent police action, but the matter was resolved after an unwritten agreement that their concerns would be addressed.
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said that the leadership of Barelvis had pledged in a written agreement that they would disperse after their event. They did not honor their commitment, he said.
But since a majority of the demonstrators were innocent people, he said the government would not use force against them. “Soon they will return to their homes,” he said.
But he warned that the government would take stern action against those who instigated or carried out acts of violence.