The Hindu : Front Page : Hundreds detained in Pakistan

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Monday, Nov 05, 2007
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Front Page

Front Page

Hundreds detained in Pakistan

Parliamentary polls could be put back, says Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz

— Photo: AFP

Public protests: Civil rights activists raise anti-Musharraf slogans in Islamabad on Sunday. The imposition of emergency has not gone down well among the Pakistan people.

ISLAMABAD: President Pervez Musharraf tightened the state of emergency in Pakistan on Sunday, as police rounded up hundreds of opponents and the government warned it could delay key elections for a year.

Defying international condemnation, military ruler General Musharraf on Saturday suspended the Constitution, sacked the Chief Justice and imposed strict media curbs.

He accused the judiciary and Islamic militants of destabilising the country, saying he had acted to stop Pakistan from committing “suicide.”

The government on Sunday said parliamentary polls, scheduled for January, could be put back, amid fears that Islamic militants could retaliate and that tensions between General Musharraf and the Army could escalate.

“We are still deliberating. The Parliament could give itself more time, up to a year, in terms of holding the next election,” Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told reporters.

500 detained: Aziz

Mr. Aziz said up to 500 people had been detained in the past 24 hours. Officials said they included opposition leaders, rights activists and lawyers.

The White House led global criticism of the emergency declaration, but General Musharraf insisted he had no choice. “Inaction at this moment is suicide for Pakistan, and I cannot allow this country to commit suicide,” he said in a late-night televised address.

Police and paramilitary soldiers on Sunday set up barricades and unrolled coils of barbed wire to block access to the Parliament, the presidential residence and Supreme Court buildings.

Security forces fanned out nearby, setting up posts near the state-run radio headquarters, television stations and luxury hotels. Shops were open but traffic was thin and markets were quiet.

Media incensed

The Pakistani media were incensed by the developments. “Gen. Musharraf’s second coup,” said a headline in Dawn, referring to his first power grab in 1999, while the Daily Times said: “It is martial law.”

“We are heading for a very uncertain time because this coup will be challenged by political parties. This will also build strain between him and the military,” political analyst Hasan Askari said.

“Police have detained more than 1,200 leaders and workers in the raids that started last night,” opposition Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) spokesman Ahsan Iqbal said.

The party’s deputy chief, Javed Hashmi, was arrested at his home in Multan. “General Musharraf’s days are numbered, and the military intervention in political affairs will end soon,” Mr. Hashmi told reporters before being whisked off in a police van. “I am neither afraid of prison nor of Generals, because I have served the major part of my political life in prison.”

Officials of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Ammal, an alliance of religious parties, put the numbers of detained workers at 400.

The law enforcement agencies detained Chairwoman of the Human Rights Commission Asma Jehangir at her residence in Lahore, and rounded up 40 personnel of her organisation.

Ex-ISI chief held

The former chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence, Hamid Gul, was also arrested. He was taken into custody by policemen, who pushed him into a van and whisked him away, Geo TV reported.

“It is not an emergency, it’s martial law. One man has put the country at stake to save his rule,” the outspoken former spy chief said.

Opposition leader Imran Khan escaped from his home in Lahore on Sunday, hours after police put him under house arrest.

“He was detained along with eight supporters at the house. The supporters are at home but he has slipped away,” a close relative said. — Agencies