Pakistan’s interior minister on Tuesday slammed violent anti-government protests as a “revolt against the state” as lawmakers met to discuss the political crisis shaking Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Parliament met for an emergency session after three days of clashes between police and club-wielding demonstrators demanding Sharif’s resignation.
Sharif has resisted calls for him to go but protest leaders Imran Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri have refused to back down, raising political tensions to fever pitch.
Violence erupted on Saturday when Khan and Qadri ordered their followers to storm the prime minister’s official residence, with protesters throwing rocks at police who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.
There were further clashes on Sunday and Monday, when activists armed with bamboo batons briefly seized control of the state broadcaster.
The protests to oust Sharif have disrupted life in the normally sleepy capital since August 15 and raised the spectre of military intervention in a country ruled for half its history by the army.
Khan, who leads an opposition party, claims the May 2013 election that swept Sharif to power in a landslide was rigged. Qadri, a populist cleric, says the current political system is corrupt and must be swept away entirely.
But the movements have not energised much widespread support beyond Khan and Qadri’s core followers. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said the country should not be held to ransom by a few thousand people.
“This is not a protest or a political gathering. This is a revolt against Pakistan—this is a revolt against the state institutions,” he told lawmakers.
Defence minister Khawaja Asif told AFP late on Monday that a cross-party negotiation team was set to approach the protest groups and try to end the standoff, which has seen three people killed and hundreds injured in clashes.
Source: Prothom Alo
