Demonstrators armed with wooden clubs and wire-cutters tried to storm the official residence of Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s prime minister, on Sunday but were driven back by police as the country’s two-week-old political crisis escalated.
At least three people were reported killed and hundreds injured in the clashes in central Islamabad next to the parliament building, with police firing tear gas and rubber bullets and wielding batons.
General Raheel Sharif, the army chief (not related to the prime minister), summoned his top commanders for an urgent meeting late on Sunday amid predictions from elected politicians that the armed forces would intervene to impose a solution or even overthrow Mr Sharif.
Mr Sharif won a general election last year in the first handover of power from one elected government to another since the Islamic country was founded in 1947, but he has faced more than two weeks of protests from opponents accusing him of vote-rigging and corruption.
The army, which ousted Mr Sharif’s previous government in a military coup d’état in 1999, has run Pakistan for half of its existence. “In 1977, we had increasingly violent protests that led to General Zia ul-Haq’s takeover,” one recently retired general told the FT, referring to an intervention that lasted until Zia’s death in a mysterious plane crash 11 years later. “The army will never allow Pakistan to fall apart,” he added.
Imran Khan, the cricket star turned politician, repeated his demand for Mr Sharif to resign and called for demonstrations in other Pakistani cities. “I am prepared to die here. I have learnt that the government plans a major crackdown against us tonight,” he said. “I am here till my last breath.”
Tahirul Qadri, a fiery Muslim preacher normally based in Canada who has led the protests along with Mr Khan, told his supporters: “We will keep on pressing for a revolution. Pakistan’s rulers must be removed immediately.”
Mr Khan, who leads the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Pakistan Justice Movement) says the election was rigged and is calling for a fresh poll. Mr Qadri, normally based in Canada, condemns the whole political class as corrupt and has called for a revolution to save the poor.
The two men led thousands of protesters from Lahore to Islamabad two weeks ago and set up camp in the centre of the capital. Until Sunday, the demonstrations were peaceful.
Pakistan’s army generals are suspected by many elected politicians of having encouraged Mr Khan’s and Mr Qadri’s protests so that they can exert greater influence over Mr Sharif’s government or depose him.
With some politicians already complaining of a military coup by stealth, Mr Sharif’s hold on power looks increasingly fragile even though he was elected with a convincing majority in parliament only 15 months ago.
“It’s only going to get violent everywhere in Pakistan. It’s not just clashes in Islamabad,” said Talath Naqvi, a PTI leader, adding that the authorities were also clamping down on protesters in Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city and home town of Mr Sharif, Mr Khan and Mr Qadri.
An interior ministry official told the FT on Sunday that the police had been given “a free hand” to deal with the protests. “The government’s patience just ran out in the end . . . I can’t imagine this protest being settled on the negotiating table. It will end on the streets.”
Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, interior minister, told reporters: “A group wanted to capture the prime minister’s house and other buildings. We are under oath, and the police as well, to protect state assets.”
Political analysts and Islamabad-based diplomats said the violence made it hard to imagine a peaceful resolution of the crisis amid hardening opposition to Mr Sharif and his brother Shahbaz, who is chief minister of the populous Punjab province.
Mr Sharif has made some concessions to the demonstrators – on reforms to the electoral system, for example – but has refused to resign and has received the support of elected politicians other than those of Mr Khan’s PTI.
Army generals, although pledging in public to support democracy, are angered by Mr Sharif’s pursuit of Pervez Musharraf. A former army chief, Mr Musharraf overthrew Mr Sharif’s previous government in a military coup d’état in 1999 and ruled for a decade, but he is now detained and accused of treason.
Some army officers – who owe their influence to an almost permanent state of conflict with neighbouring India – are also suspicious of Mr Sharif’s enthusiasm for a peace agreement with New Delhi.
At the weekend, Arun Jaitley, Indian defence minister, accused Pakistani forces of increased firing and incursions across the “Line of Control” that separates the two armies in the disputed territory of Kashmir. Several people have been killed.
“Incursions at both the Line of Control and the international border are serious and they are provocative,” Mr Jaitley said. “These incidents are creating an environment which is not very conducive for the relationship between the two countries.” Pakistan said the firing was started by Indian troops.
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