KARACHI/ISLAMABAD, 12 May 2007 — Authorities rounded up hundreds of opposition activists and deployed 15,000 police and paramilitary troops yesterday ahead of two rallies in Karachi.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, whose removal by President Pervez Musharraf on March 9 sparked nationwide protests, is set to address lawyers and opposition party supporters in Karachi today.
Tensions rose after a pro-Musharraf party, Muttaheda Qaumi Movement, said it would hold a demonstration the same day.
“We have detained over 100 people as part of preventive measures,” Karachi police chief Azhar Farooqi told AFP. More people may be detained over the next 24 hours to maintain law and order, he said.
The Pakistan People’s Party of exiled former Premier Benazir Bhutto said 300 of its workers were seized, while Pakistan’s main alliance of religious parties said more than 500 of its activists were detained.
“We have taken all possible security measures in view of the highly charged atmosphere and over 15,000 police and paramilitary rangers have been deployed,” interior secretary of Sindh province Brig. Ghulam Muhammad Muhtaram told AFP.
“The situation is tense and we are holding negotiations with all parties in order to avoid clashes,” he said.
Police acting on government orders removed camps on Thursday set up by both sides in the volatile city. Reception camps set up by the Pakistan People’s Party, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Sindh Nationalist Movement, Balochistan National Party, Jamaat-e-Islami, Mutteheda Majlis-e-Amal and others were uprooted.
The MQM said it was holding a counter-rally because opposition parties were politicizing the judge’s suspension.
The chief justice and his supporters will hold their rally at Sindh High Court while the MQM will gather about one kilometer away, on the city’s main boulevard. Chaudhry is set to address today what organizers hope will be the biggest rally yet of lawyers and opposition supporters calling for his reinstatement. “If something happens to the chief justice or any of his supporters in Karachi or elsewhere, the government alone would be responsible for it,” said Farhatullah Babar, spokesman for the main opposition Pakistan People’s Party.
Farooq Sattar, an MQM leader, said his party activists knew their responsibilities and would remain peaceful.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior has reportedly sent a request to Iftikhar Chaudhry not to take out the rally in view of a possible showdown. But Chaudhry’s defense lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan told Arab News: “We will take out the rally as planned. We had announced our plan to hold the rally before the MQM did.”
MQM chief Altaf Hussain in a telephonic address to the people of Karachi has said, “The chief justice should be given full protection but his rally should not be exploited by the opposition political parties.” The MQM has also termed Justice Chaudhry as the chief justice of Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy.
Dr. Karim Rajpar, managing editor of Sindh TV channel told Arab News, “Hundreds of activists of anti-government parties were detained by the Sindh police.”
The proposed MQM rally has driven a wedge between some members of the ruling coalition. MQM’s decision to hold the rally was criticized by federal ministers belonging to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League — Sumaira Malik and Dr. Sher Afgan.
Former Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali urged the government to show tolerance. “Let us not push the country toward a civil war,” he told the National Assembly.
Media Adviser to the Sindh governor, Salahuddin Haider, expressed fear Al-Qaeda could exploit the situation. He accused the terror outfit of firing at the residence of Malik Munir, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association and a defense lawyer of Justice Chaudhry, in Karachi.
Sindh police have arrested 12 people for firing at Malik’s Clifton residence.
The ruling Pakistan Muslim League has also planned a rally in Islamabad today.
Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi claimed his party would mobilize half a million people for the rally that will be addressed by President Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
Political observers say Musharraf might get a chance to clamp emergency if the situation deteriorates.
Pir Pagara of the Functional Muslim League said in Karachi a showdown between MQM and anti-Musharraf forces in Karachi today might lead to another martial law. “Some other general and not Musharraf may be behind it,” he said. Dr. Arbab Ghulam Rahim, the chief minister of Sindh, is from the Functional Muslim League.
In Jeddah, MMA leader Ghafoor Ahmad, who is currently visiting the Kingdom, said he was very optimistic that the current anti-government movement would lead to democracy.
“The government has come under tremendous pressure due to its action against Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.”
He said, “Our workers have been arrested and are being pressurized not to attend the Karachi rally.”
He was speaking at a news conference arranged by the Pakistan Writers’ Forum.
