ISLAMABAD — Police overwhelmed anti-government protesters Thursday in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, arresting opposition leaders and preventing several hundred lawyers and activists from leaving for a planned demonstration in Islamabad, the capital.
Over the past 24 hours, the government of President Asif Ali Zardari has detained hundreds of people critical of its policies, arguing that public gatherings could serve as a focal point for terrorists and otherwise endanger property and lives.
Authorities also banned public assembly in two key provinces and blocked major roads leading into Islamabad with barriers and vehicles.
“The government has resorted to raiding the houses of the leaders of political parties,” said Farooq Tariq, an official with the Pakistan Labor Party. “I’ve been underground for the last three days.”
Lawyers were at the forefront of demonstrations against the former government of President Pervez Musharraf, who incurred their wrath in part by firing dozens of senior judges in 2007 in an apparent bid to head off legal challenges to his rule.
The growing political instability is raising concern that the armed forces could intervene, as they have repeatedly in this nuclear-armed nation prone to military coups.
In Karachi on Thursday morning, paramilitary forces and police surrounded court buildings in which lawyers had assembled, preventing many cars and buses from getting close. Several hundred black-suited lawyers broke out of the cordon, however, and left the building on foot, joining political activists carrying party flags and chanting slogans.
When the group tried to enter a highway leaving the city, police blocked them. About 200 protesters got as far as a toll plaza but were overwhelmed by more than twice as many police officers.
The political crisis was sparked a month ago when Pakistan’s high court ruled that opposition leaders Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz could not serve in public office. This emboldened critics who stepped up calls for Zardari’s government to reinstate the fired judges and to give up some of the wide-ranging presidential powers inherited from years of military rule.
