Islamabad, Oct 4 (EFE) – Pakistani police arrested over 30 people and used tear gas to stop a mass protest by the main opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), in favor of the independence of the judiciary.
“Police arrested more than 30 workers and supporters,” PTI spokesman Ahmed Janjua told EFE, adding that two sisters of PTI leader and former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan were among those detained.
He said law enforcement officials “resorted to heavy tear gas shelling” against protesters, who he said were acting peacefully.
The PTI protest called in Islamabad, criticized two constitutional amendments proposed by the government, which the party says reduces the independence of the judiciary.
Images shared by the party on social media showed long caravans of supporters traveling to the Pakistani capital to participate in the rally, particularly from the northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the PTI’s power base.
Internet and mobile phone services were cut in several Pakistani cities, including Islamabad and nearby Rawalpindi, hours before the former prime minister’s supporters began gathering in the capital.
Ahead of the rally, the government in the eastern province of Punjab, the country’s most populous, called in the semi-military Rangers to ‘maintain law and order’ in several localities.
The government also imposed emergency measures to ban gatherings of more than four people in Islamabad and the cities of Lahore, Rawalpindi, Attock, and Sargodha.
“Gatherings can be an easy target for terrorists,” the government said in a notification announcing the imposition of the measure.
The PTI claims that the central government and the Punjab authorities aim to stifle the party’s constitutional right to protest.
In this regard, the opposition party has called for another protest on Saturday, similar to Friday’s demonstration in Lahore and its surrounding districts.
The PTI has called for other marches in recent weeks to protest the arrest of its leader, who has been in prison since August 2023 on hundreds of charges.
Although Khan’s PTI won the most seats in February’s general election, it was unable to form a government due to a series of legal and political deadlocks, allowing the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to win with the support of other parties and appoint Shehbaz Sharif as the new prime minister. EFE
aa-hbc/mcd