ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s main opposition leader Nawaz Sharif defied house arrest yesterday to lead a massive anti-government rally.
Tens of thousands of Pakistan Muslim League (N) supporters thronged the streets of Lahore as he left his residence in a dark green armored Land Cruiser, despite a government ban on public gathering and a massive deployment of law-enforcement personnel.
“It is a rare moment in Pakistan’s history. It is a prelude to revolution,” said Sharif.
The two-time former prime minister plans to lead a “long march” of lawyers and political activists from Lahore to Islamabad for a sit-in scheduled to begin today until the lawyers’ demands are met.
“Our destination is Islamabad. We have left for Islamabad. The government should listen to the voice of the people and accept their demands,” said Sharif, who has been shown by some recent polls as the country’s most popular leader. Thousands of well-wishers cheered as Sharif’s convoy of buses, cars, pick-up trucks and motorbikes crossed the main bridge out of Lahore.
“It is a sea of people. It looks as though the entire city is gathered here. Young, elders, women, children ... everyone is here,” said Yunus Butt, a Lahore-based journalist.
The crowd chanted slogans against the government of President Asif Ali Zardari, including “Death to Zardari,” “Zardari is a dog” and “Restore the judges.” There were also calls for revolution and change.
Sharif supported a campaign spearheaded by lawyers seeking reinstatement of judges, including former Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who was removed by former President Pervez Musharraf in 2007.
Zardari promised to restore the judges after he took over last year, but refused to do so later on apparently out of fear that the independent-minded chief justice might revive corruption charges against him. But the broken promises turned him into a highly unpopular political figure.
“For the first time in the country’s political history, protesters have openly defied police and removed huge barricades,” said Jaffer Ahmed, director of the Pakistan Study Center at Karachi University. “The government has lost its credentials and its moral support. Zardari acted on wrong advice and took wrong decisions which led to the present chaos,” he said.
Earlier, hundreds of policemen surrounded Sharif’s residence and sealed all access roads.
“Come and join me. I am leaving the house. The time has come to march hand-in-hand,” Sharif told a charged crowd before leaving as his party workers removed the roadblocks. Top police officers stood aside and many of them later joined the rally.
Some 15 km from Sharif’s residence, in the heart of Lahore, police using hundreds of canisters of tear gas and batons tried in vain to disperse Sharif supporters who pelted security personnel with stones.
— With input from agencies
