PAK PM, ARMY CHIEF AGAINST USE OF FORCE
Situation in protest-affected areas still tense
ISLAMABAD: Top civil and military leaders on Sunday decided against the use of force to disperse protesters in Islamabad, opting instead to engage in political negotiations with agitators in the federal capital.
Chief of Army Staff Qamar Jawed Bajwa attended a key meeting presided by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, along with Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal and the Director-general of the Inter-services Intelligence (ISI), LT-GEN NAVEED MUKHTAR, OFICIALS SAID.
It was decided to engage in protest LEADERS WITH INLUENCE, OFICIALS SAID, adding that the use of force against protesters has been discouraged in favour of a political settlement.
The meeting was held at the Prime Minister House to discuss the unstable law and order situation in the capital in the aftermath of a botched operation to disperse protesters at the Faizabad intersection on Saturday.
Rangers were given charge of the Faizabad operation on Sunday in a bid to control the chaos. Around 1,000 Rangers personnel, who were deployed in Islamabad on Saturday, have been repositioned to the frontlines of the security operation.
Islamabad police and Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel, who were on Saturday on the frontlines, have been relegated to back positions, as decided in a meeting of police, capital ADMINISTRATION AND RANGERS OFICIALS on Saturday night.
In his phone call to the prime minister on Saturday from a Gulf country that he was then visiting, the army chief had suggested that both sides should try to resolve the matter peacefully as violence was not in the national interest and cohesion.
EARLIER, ARMY SOUGHT SOME Clariications from the federal government about the latter’s order for deployment of troops to quell disturbances by the activists of some religious parties.
In its response, the army said in a letter that the military is fully ready to assist the federal government in an operation against protesters who remain camped out at the Faizabad Interchange. The government has called the army under Article 245 of the Constitution to protect the lives and property of the residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
The military’s letter stated that before troops are deployed, there are a few aspects meriting deliberation such as how the police have not been utilised to their full capacity in dealing with the religious protesters and that the Pakistan Rangers have not been given written instructions.
According to the letter, the army is not a force traditionally used to disperse crowds or protesters and the terms of the military’s deployment in Islamabad AND RAWALPINDI NEED TO BE CLARIIED in keeping with orders passed by the Supreme Court and the Islamabad High Court (IHC) earlier this week.
Tension prevailed at the Faizabad intersection and some areas of Karachi and Lahore because of the continuing protests by workers of the religious OUTITS.
Some roads and highways remained blocked due to this agitation. Religious activists continued their sit-ins different cities.
In Saturday’s clashes between the security forces and protesters, at least seven activists were killed and nearly 200 persons mainly personnel of the police and Frontier Constabulary were injured. Meanwhile, Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashhood announced that the educational institutions including all schools and universities, public and private, will remain closed on Monday and Tuesday due to the prevailing security situation in the province.