Riots in Islamabad Over Musharraf

Riots in Islamabad Over Musharraf

www.time.com

Less than 24 hours after Pakistan's Supreme Court ruled in favor of President General Pervez Musharraf's eligibility to run for a second term in office, government forces laid siege to the Supreme Court grounds, where several hundred lawyers had taken refuge after a vicious attack on a peaceful protest in the capital, Islamabad.

(visit the link for the full news article)


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www.iht.com

The people were protesting the recent ruling that Musharraf was eligible to run for a second term as President. The problem is he is head of the military as well which is against the Pakistani constitution.

Musharraf was given a one-time waiver.

Protesters threw rocks so the police started hurling rocks back, crazy, it escalated and the protesters were attacked, among them was Aitzaz Ahsan, former interior minister and current supreme court lawyer.

Add this to the Al Qaeda call for the overthrow of Musaharraf, means this situation will probably get worse .

www.time.com
(visit the link for the full news article)


edit:sp

[edit on 2007/9/29 by JacKatMtn]

Another protest scheduled on Sunday by the PFUJ (Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists) in reaction to the police beatings.

www.pakistantimes.net

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) will hold a protest march on Sunday at 4 p.m. from Islamabad Press Club to Parliament House against maltreatment with journalists by federal and punjab police outside Election Commission Office and Supreme Court building here on Saturday.

The journalists condemned the baton charge and use of tear gas against them and asked the Interior Ministry and the government to take immediate action against the responsible.

edit:bb code

[edit on 2007/9/29 by JacKatMtn]

I don't understand why they would do this but a number of national and provincial assemblies members, all associated with the All Parties Democratic Movement, have sent their resignations effective Oct 2, to protest a ruling which enabled Musharraf to run for re-election while still wearing the uniform.

APDM collects resignation of 236 lawmakers

The All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) has collected as many as 84 resignations from the National Assembly members and 152 from the members of provincial assemblies till now.

The APDM would furnish these resignations to the Speakers of the national and provincial assemblies respectively on October 2, as decided by the alliance.

Much like the Myanmar clampdown on communications during the protests and violence,

Pakistan took TV off the air and warned against showing footage of the police attack on protestors in Islamabad.

Pakistan shuts private news channels

Authorities in Pakistan on Saturday temporarily suspended transmission of independent news TV channels to stop coverage of opposition rallies against President's bid for re-elections, private TV channels and subscribers said.

Police fired tear gas shells and beat protesting lawyers and political activists who staged demonstrations in Islamabad to protest against President Musharraf.

Yep, there are surely similarities to whats going on in Myanmar, IMO...JackKatMtn...Let me thank you on behalf of everyone on ATS for your fast coverage of events in the near east this last week or so

You, with several others (Drozla, Raud) truly deserve high praise and applause at an official level from ATS...

You guys have gone above and beyond

Many thanks again

Peace

reply to post by Rilence



Thanks for your kind words, but it is not necessary, this community is what is great, you have scholars, experts, academics, scientists, not to mention novices, students of all ages, the list goes on and on.

Where else could a down home country boy, have the opportunity to converse with such people?

I just find that posting news items and interesting articles, my way of contributing and paying back the members who have allowed me to share their thoughts, views and feelings on a wide variety of subjects.


Back to the topic,

Here is a report on today's protest in Islamabad

In addition to the resignations referred to above, the APDM has also calling for a nationwide boycott of the elections on October 6.

Media observes “black day”

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s media community observed a “black day” on Sunday in protest against Saturday’s police action that left several journalists injured.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary took suo motu notice of the police crackdown in which a number of lawyers were also injured, and ordered several top officials of the police and administration to present themselves before the court on Monday.

Again I ask,

How can resigning political positions and then boycotting the election help in their cause?

Doesn't this make it easier for Musharraf to get his way?




EDIT: add link

[edit on 2007/9/30 by JacKatMtn]

Originally posted by JacKatMtn
Again I ask,

How can resigning political positions and then boycotting the election help in their cause?

Doesn't this make it easier for Musharraf to get his way?

Pakistani elections are a joke, so I'm told. Word on the street is that nobody really gets elected into position. They're chosen into position. How would the resignations help the cause? The government would have to select less than able individuals to run the administrative affairs. Eventually things will be so messed up the government would collapse, so the thinking goes.

By the way, the government is only in control of the federal territories. That would be Karachi, Islamabad and a couple other areas I forgot which. The rest is in control of tribal chieftain councils. Locals say their country is just one country on paper. Waziristan and Baluchistan might as well be another country.

The latest from Pakistan:

Pakistan Court Orders Suspension of Top Police Chief, Other Officials

Pakistan's Supreme Court has ordered the suspension of Islamabad's police chief and other city officials in the wake of a widely condemned crackdown that wounded dozens of journalists and lawyers on Saturday.

The suspension order was issued by Pakistan's top judge Iftikhar Chaudhry Monday after he summoned police and administrative officials to the Supreme Court to explain what happened.

This article repeats the same news of the suspensions but also brings to light this interesting development:

Pakistan suspends police chief after clashes

...Musharraf's allies on Monday thwarted an opposition plan to dissolve the Islamist-led assembly in North West Frontier Province, a move that could have damaged the credibility of the vote.

Pro-Musharraf parties submitted a vote of no-confidence against the chief minister of the conservative province bordering Afghanistan, preventing him from calling for a dissolution.

Musharraf has said he will step down as the military leader if he is re-elected as president.

The election is scheduled for October 6.