The most depressing news of the day is that there were mass arrests today, about 500 or so. The most high-profile ones were done during a raid on the HRCP office in Lahore, with the arrests of I.A. Rehman, Salima Hashmi, etc. There was also a raid on the Aaj TV office and equipment was damaged and removed, as was done at the FM103 station (this station provides hourly Urdu BBC News updates). There are rumors circulating that the internet is going to be cut off any minute now.
As expected, elections have been postponed but it's not clear until when. Shaukat Aziz said they could be delayed upto a year.
A meeting was called today at the Karachi Press Club, attended by about 100-150 people. Several people spoke movingly. Mention of lawyers and judges got HUGE applause. It's been decided to have a protest tomorrow(Monday) outside Karachi Press Club at 4 p.m., in support of the lawyers' strike nationwide. Below is a pic of the meeting.
I'm not sure how big the street actions are going to be. I see two problems. One, people are genuinely afraid, with good reason, of the army. No one supports this martial law at all (not even conservatives, corporate types, etc.). But the fear of being beaten up is very real now because Mush is pissed off and he's ready for a fight. Two, I think the really big numbers aren't going to come out unless the political parties (and by that I mean the PPP) get involved and mobilize their people. It is significant that Benazir announced today that she is going ahead with the Pindi rally on November 9.
In Karachi, army presence seems to be light, although we did see police and Rangers standing outside the Press Club:
I think we need a BIG push from the Pakistanis in the West. That would make a huge impact at this point. In Mush's speech, he made a big show of speaking to the expats directly. He needs their support, and he doesn't need the bad press. So please, if you're outside Pakistan, plan regular protests at Pakistani embassies, consulates, high commissions. There was a protest in NYC on Sunday, and there is one planned for Monday in London. You can see details here.
One more thing. PLEASE don't call this an "emergency." This is martial law, and it needs to be called martial law. The rhetoric of "emergency" allows Musharraf to make this seem as if this is a minor step that is being done for the good of the country or some genuine short-term crisis, when of course it's being done to keep him in power. By the way, one of the funny moments in his speech/tantrum last night was when he was criticizing the media. He noted that when he came in 1999, there was only PTV, and that he had brought so many new channels since then. The irony of course is that for the last one and half days, we are back to PTV only!
1 comment:
i just saw this report on a listserv saying imran khan hasn't escaped and that he's likely been abducted by the intelligence agencies:
This is a message from the Chief Political Secretary of PTI Saifullah Khan Niazi. Imran Khan did not escape house arrest in Lahore as has been reported in electronic media, we are unsure of his whereabouts, and he has likely been kidnapped by the agencies:
“The Chairman Imran Khan was told by the police last night that he is under house arrest. But around 3 am the police brought warrants to take him to prison and at that time it was discovered that he had mysteriously vanished while there were over two dozen policemen surrounding his house. We are not sure where they have taken him as there is no way he could have gone out without the knowledge of the police and he could be in a lot of danger.
Please put this issue on all types of blogs for discussion.
Please instruct all your International Chapters to protest in front of their respective Pakistani High Commissions as his life could be in danger.
In addition to this please start a million signature petition to free Imran Khan and send it to the UN, amnesty international and the human rights commission or whichever organization you can think of.”
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