With the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and subsequent remand, analysts believe that the Pakistan army may be preparing its ground to take over the country.
Soldiers have already been deployed in Punjab province following the government’s nod, according to the official order.
Nearly 1,000 people have been arrested, police say, and eight people have died nationwide in the protests following the arrest. It comes at a time when the nation is facing economic crisis with analysts say dark days are ahead for Pakistan.
On Wednesday, Imran Khan was indicted on charges that he unlawfully sold state gifts during his premiership, in a case brought by the Election Commission.
He denies the allegations and says he fulfilled all legal requirements.
An Islamabad court has handed Khan over to the National Accountability Bureau on an eight-day physical remand in the Al-Qadir Trust case. The anti-corruption body had earlier requested a 14-day remand.
Conviction would permanently disqualify the former cricket star - prime minister from 2018 to 2022 - from standing for office. Elections are due later this year, BBC reports.
The Pakistan army says May 9 – the day protests erupted after Khan was arrested – “will be remembered as a dark chapter” in the country’s history.
It said in a statement that the protests were “organised attacks” against military installations and anti-army slogans were raised.
“What the eternal enemy of the country could achieve for the last seventy-five years, this group, disguised in a political cloak, has done just for sheer lust of power,” the statement said.
After Khan, leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was arrested, his supporters stormed the streets across Pakistan.
Footage showed PTI workers ransacking the residence of a top military commander in Lahore and raiding one of the outer gates of the General Headquarters of Pakistan army in Rawalpindi.
“Any further attack on the army, including all law enforcement agencies, military and state installations and properties will be retaliated severely against the group that wants to push Pakistan into a civil war and has repeatedly attacked them.”
Talking to a private news channel, PTI leader Asad Umar said it needs to be investigated who carried out such attacks.
“Were people gathered under a conspiracy? They were made to do the work so that the debris could be thrown on PTI? There is no violence in Imran Khan’s politics. Our workers are peaceful. Imran Khan’s 27-year struggle is for peaceful politics,” he said.
Another leader, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said, “We have never damaged properties. Official elements are doing this.”
Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder says legal experts in Pakistan are claiming Khan’s arrest from an Islamabad court was “totally illegal”.
“Imran Khan’s lawyer will now be looking to the Supreme Court where they will challenge the verdict of the Islamabad High Court which termed the arrest a legal thing,” he said from Islamabad.
Social media users in Pakistan continue to face difficulties accessing major platforms after authorities restricted access.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority confirmed it had restricted access to social media platforms such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook under orders from the Ministry of Interior.
The blockage began on Tuesday, and users continue to complain about accessing the websites and apps. Amnesty International has condemned the move and demanded authorities reverse their decision.
Senior PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi says the leadership of the party is “fighting to meet” Khan after the former prime minister’s arrest on Tuesday.
“We continue to call PTI family workers, supporters, and the people of Pakistan onto the streets for peaceful protest against this unconstitutional behaviour,” Qureshi said in a tweet. “No one, absolutely no one, should be allowed to ride roughshod over the law.”
“Let me make it very clear, we will never succumb to these dark forces, and will always fight for Jinnah’s Pakistan,” he wrote.
Khan’s supporters are planning to march to Islamabad, where the former prime minister is in custody in a corruption case, raising fears of more clashes with the security forces.
Supporters in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were asked to gather early on Wednesday in Swabi city to leave for Islamabad as part of a convoy, the party wrote on Twitter.
Party leaders asked workers to continue protests but not take the “law in their hands”, according to the messages shared on Twitter.
The Statesman adds: Upon Choudhary’s question regarding the possibility of civil war in Pakistan, Bhat replied that there is the possibility of a civil war in Pakistan as the current situation in Pakistan is unstable. He questioned, “Have you seen such a situation in Pakistan in the previous government?”
Pakistani activist from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Shabir Choudhry, said that Pakistan may head toward civil war amidst the worsening political situation in the country.
He made this statement while asking questions to Masarat Alam Bhat, separatist leader and Kashmir National Party chairman, on his YouTube video posted on Wednesday.
Upon Choudhary’s question regarding the possibility of civil war in Pakistan, Bhat replied that there is the possibility of a civil war in Pakistan as the current situation in Pakistan is unstable. He questioned, “Have you seen such a situation in Pakistan in the previous government?”
