ISLAMABAD, 13 September 2007 — The Sindh provincial government blocked opposition leader Imran Khan from entering the country’s biggest city, Karachi, yesterday, saying he posed a threat to public order in the port city.
The cricketer-turned-politician was sent back to Islamabad on a regular flight from Karachi and police arrested a dozen supporters who had come to receive him, Sindh Home Ministry official Waseem Akhtar said.
The government in the southern Sindh province, an ally of President Pervez Musharraf, Tuesday banned Imran from entering the city for a month. But he defied the order, saying it was his right to visit any part of the country.
Imran boarded a PIA flight from Islamabad for Karachi early yesterday where he was scheduled to address his party workers, visit the mausoleum of the country’s founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and attend a few other engagements.
On his arrival at the Karachi airport, Imran was shown an official order from the Sindh government saying he was not allowed to visit Karachi for one month due to law and order situation in the city.
Imran earned the wrath of the ruling Muttaheda Qaumi Movement (MQM) party when he labeled its London-based chief Altaf Hussain a “terrorist” for allegedly masterminding May 12 bloodshed in the city that killed 42 political workers.
“We took the latest decision in the interest of maintaining (the) law and order situation in the city,” Akhtar said.
He said Imran had arrived on a domestic flight but was not allowed to leave the airport and was turned back.
“We did it according to the law as his entry has been banned under special directives of the provincial government,” Akhtar said.
The May 12 riots in Karachi, the bloody climax to two months of protests against Musharraf’s suspension of top judge Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, were Pakistan’s worst ethnic clashes for two decades. Chaudhry was later reinstated by the Supreme Court on July 20.
Karachi police chief Azher Farooqi said the former cricket star was barred because his presence could cause unrest.
More than a dozen Imran supporters who had been chanting anti-Musharraf slogans were detained, he said.
Imran denounced his removal as “state terrorism” by the MQM. The party controls the government of Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, and supports Musharraf at the national level.
“Terrorism is the only way they know to reach their objectives,” Imran told state-run Pakistan television.
Imran’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or Movement for Justice, is small, but he is an outspoken critic of the government.
The provincial government’s action against Imran came two days after former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif flew into Islamabad from London and was sent a few hours later to Saudi Arabia. Sharif had said he was ready to risk jail by coming home.
But officials claimed Tuesday that when they offered him a choice between arrest on corruption charges or exile, he chose the latter.
The manner of Sharif’s departure is already the subject of a complaint to the Supreme Court from his supporters.
The court ruled last month that Sharif had an “inalienable” right to return to his homeland.
It is unclear when it might rule on the latest case, but many commentators and legal experts are arguing that the government is guilty of contempt of court.
In addition, the government faces rising extremism underlined by a spate of deadly suicide attacks blamed on pro-Taleban militants based near the Afghan border.
Opposition leaders have vowed to mount street protests to unseat the government. However, demonstrations on Tuesday in several cities were small and ended without incident.
The scope for agitation is limited by the fact that Benazir Bhutto, another exiled former prime minister and leader of the main opposition Pakistan People’s Party, is in talks with Musharraf that could lead to them sharing power.
The presidential vote is due between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15 and the election commission said on Tuesday that the schedule would be announced within days.
