Things Get Uglier In Pakistan
Ruth David, 11.14.07, 11:10 AM ET
forbes.com
MUMBAI - Pakistani opposition leader Imran Khan was arrested Wednesday after he made a public appearance at a student rally against President Musharraf’s move to impose emergency rule.
Khan, a former cricket captain for Pakistan, was spotted in Lahore for the first time after he was placed under house arrest, following emergency rule that was declared by the government on Nov. 3. He led a rally in the city where he had gone to a university and told the media that he was happy to have started “the student movement.”
Thousands of students wearing black arm-bands shouted anti-Musharraf slogans as Khan was taken away.
Some religious students in the university had detained Khan, enabling the police to whisk him away. The move was a setback for Pakistan People’s Party leader Benazir Bhutto, who Tuesday said she would scrap a proposed power-sharing agreement with Musharraf, and join forces with the opposition. Bhutto has also been placed under house arrest in Lahore.
Opposition parties say police have detained around 15,000 supporters since Musharraf imposed emergency rule and clamped down on the judiciary and media. (See: “Activists Detained In Pakistan Crackdown”)
He blamed a rise in militancy and judicial intervention in the government’s functioning for the move, which has been criticized by the West. The Bush Administration, which said it was reviewing aid for the region, is sending Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte to Pakistan this week to urge Musharraf to lift the emergency rule.
Opposition lawmakers and civil society have also launched protests against the military leader’s latest move. On Wednesday, exiled prime minister Nawaz Sharif told media from Saudi Arabia that he was willing to set asides his differences with Bhutto and work with her party to restore democracy.
Sharif attempted to return to Pakistan last month, but Musharraf didn’t allow him to step out the airport, instead sending the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader to Saudi Arabia.
In a release on the party web site, Sharif was quoted as saying the opposition needed to unite to tackle Musharraf. “That is the need of the hour because single-handedly to fight dictatorship is going to be a difficult task.” He also offered praise for Bhutto’s initiative to cut ties with Musharraf.
An alliance between Sharif’s and Bhutto’s parties and popular Islamic political outfits will also bring thousands more supporters on to the streets, intensifying pressure on the government, analysts say.
Musharraf has promised to hold national elections on Jan. 9, but opposition leaders say the polls will be rigged if they are held under his rule, especially since politicians are being arrested every day.
In an interview with Britain’s Sky News, the leader who came to power in a coup in Oct 1999 said he would not give up his post till political turmoil in the country ceased.
“I am not a dictator, I want a democracy,” he was quoted as saying. |
