ISLAMABAD: Ahead of planned massive anti-government protests, Pakistan’s capital feels like a city preparing for a siege.
Shipping containers block roads leading into central Islamabad, placed by security forces hoping to halt protesters supporting either a fiery anti-government cleric or a cricket star-turned-politician.
Police in riot gear can be seen taking up position across the city. Meanwhile, those worried the government may cut off fuel shipments to slow demonstrators have lined up at gas stations.
The protests on Thursday represent the strongest challenge yet to the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, just a year after he took office in the first democratic transfer of power in a country long plagued by military coups. And how the country reacts to calls for Sharif’s ouster will show how far its nascent democracy has come.
“I think there is going to be a test of wills in Islamabad,” Rasul Bakhsh Rais, who heads the Institute for Strategic Studies said.
Two men who are at the forefront of challenges to Sharif are Tahir-ul-Qadri, a Pakistani cleric who is also a Canadian national. The second is Pakistan’s former cricket legend Imran Khan. His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party is the third-largest political bloc in parliament.
Both men picked Pakistan’s Independence Day for their rallies.
In the opaque world of Pakistani politics, where security services remain powerful, there has been wide speculation that the two men have other internal support, something they’ve denied. (PTI)
