Hundreds of thousands of PTI activists gathered in the capital Islamabad to demand the release of imprisoned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan, resignation of the government and repeal of the 26th Amendment to the Constitution. They were stationed at D-Chowk, the most important place in the capital.
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While carrying out this program, PTI workers clashed with law and order forces. Thousands of activists were injured. Besides, 7 people were killed.
However, one of the senior leaders of PTI, Ali Amin Gandapur, suddenly canceled the program early yesterday morning and ordered the workers to go home. Besides, Imran Khan's wife Bushra BBI also moved away from there at that time. Although he said yesterday, he will not return home without freeing Imran Khan.
A convoy of PTI leaders, workers and supporters was heading towards Islamabad from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The fleet entered Islamabad in defiance of a court order to enter the capital. Their demands were threefold—restoration of the mandate 'taken' from the PTI in last February's elections, release of political prisoners including Imran and repeal of the constitutional amendment that established government control over appointments to the judiciary.
Now that the protesters are retreating from Islamabad, the top leadership of PTI is under great pressure, analysts believe. According to them, none of the party's demands have been met. In this situation, how the PTI will be organized remains unclear.
Political analyst Zaigham Khan told Al-Jazeera that the protest was called a 'final call' by the PTI. Now that the protests have collapsed, it is a big blow to the party's political strategy.
PTI claimed that eight of their supporters were killed in the protest. The government has rejected allegations of using lethal weapons to quell the protests. The government claims that none of the protesters were killed.
Officials said three rangers were killed when a vehicle from a PTI convoy attacked security officials on Monday. And a police constable was killed in a clash with supporters of the party.
This is PTI's fourth protest in four months. Last October, a protest was stopped in the bud.
In a press conference yesterday afternoon in Manshehra town of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur strongly condemned the government's crackdown on PTI leaders and workers. He indicated that the party would continue to convey its demands to the government.
In February 2022, the Imran government was ousted after losing a vote of no confidence in the parliament. Since then, the party has been holding protests one after another. PTI candidates won most of the seats in the general elections last February. But the party failed to form the government. PTI is claiming that their mandate has been taken away.
Imran Khan has been in jail since August 2023. He has to face various charges including corruption, betrayal. Bushra BBI also served nine months in jail in a corruption case. He got bail last October.
Now Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has blamed Bushra Bibi for the unrest in Islamabad. Last Tuesday, Naqvi complained and said, "He (Bushra) is responsible for the loss of life and financial loss in the last few days."
PTI leader Syed Zulfi Bukhari refused to comment on what the party will do now. He said, now his team has focused on dealing with the casualties.
But Lahore-based political analyst Benazir Shah said starting another large-scale protest for Imran Khan's release seems out of the question for the PTI at the moment. The analyst also said that PTI has to rethink its strategy. A possible strategy could be to form alliances with other political parties and build popular movements. A united movement with human rights and social issues at the fore can help set the pace of the nation.
PTI's demands for peaceful protests have been repeatedly rejected by the government.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif's spokesperson Rana Ishan Afzal said that PTI supporters were armed in the protest. He also said, 'Our police had bullets. Still they suffered casualties. It proves that PTI supporters came with weapons.'
Rana Afzal said it was not a peaceful protest. They (PTI supporters) wanted violence. They chose violence as a strategy to get people's sympathy.
Ahmed Ijaz, a political observer in Islamabad, said that the sudden withdrawal of Bushra Bibi and Ali Amin Gandapur from the protest site will deepen the division within the party.
Ahmed Ijaz said, the way they (Bushra and Gandapur) left supporters in the D-Chok area will now question the party's ability to decide the next course of action.
References: Al-Jazeera
