November 28, 2024
Islamabad – As emotions run high, chaos is coming.
With electronic media unable to do its job, most people still have trouble distinguishing fact from fiction. We do know that two extraordinary meetings arranged late Monday night between PTI leaders and the party’s jailed founder Imran Khan came to nothing.
And, despite all predictions and the government’s war preparations to prevent them from entering the federal capital, a large number of indicted PTI supporters finally managed to enter Islamabad in the early hours of Tuesday. Skirmishes between marchers and security personnel and other incidents resulted in several deaths before protesters breached the city’s container defenses. At least three Rangers, several police officers and two protesters were killed. Countless others were injured.
Meanwhile, on social media, partisan “analysts” and opinion makers competed for attention, with one side describing the events as a revolution and the other celebrating reports that the military had been called in, apparently after receiving The order to shoot. As their war of words accelerated to alarming proportions, the authorities failed to remain calm.
While statements from the Punjab and Islamabad police chiefs remained unnecessary confrontation, the interior minister made the situation worse by claiming that security forces “shooting for five minutes” would force the protesters to disperse. Soon after, reports emerged that live ammunition had indeed been used at one of the blockades, injuring several protesters. Soon after, a fast-moving vehicle ran over several security personnel, causing many casualties. These events may not necessarily be connected, but in retrospect they do make these voices unwisely obvious.
By Tuesday afternoon, it was clear things were slipping out of the government’s hands. While the home minister blamed “hidden forces” for the PTI’s alarming advances, one wonders what will happen to the over 20,000 security personnel and equipment commandeered to prevent the party from entering Islamabad. Rumors were rife about backdoor talks in Islamabad and things could get out of hand when protesters forced their way into D-Chowk, although they were later repelled.
It is unclear how much control the PTI leadership has over the crowds marching in Islamabad and the extent to which they will exercise that control if their goals remain unfulfilled. Still, there is hope that the confrontation can be resolved through politics and dialogue. To avoid further confrontation and violence, compromise is necessary; it is the responsibility of the PTI leadership and the government to find a way out.
