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Pakistani Protesters Briefly Take Over State TV Station Pakistani Protesters Briefly Take Over State TV Building
(about 2 hours later)
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistani troops took control of security at the headquarters for the state-run television system on Monday after about 1,000 demonstrators stormed the building and forced it to temporarily halt broadcasting. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistani troops took control of security at the headquarters of the state-run television network on Monday after hundreds of demonstrators stormed the building and forced the network to temporarily halt broadcasting.
Antigovernment demonstrators armed with sticks and batons ransacked the Pakistan Television building on Monday morning, smashed vehicles in the parking lots and cut transmission cables in the newsrooms. PTV officials said that at least 20 cameras were missing. Antigovernment demonstrators armed with sticks and batons ransacked the Pakistan Television building in central Islamabad on Monday morning, smashed vehicles in the parking lots and cut transmission cables in the newsrooms. PTV officials said that at least 20 cameras were missing.
Most of the protesters appeared to be supporters of Muhammad Tahir-ul Qadri, a cleric who is demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. They were holding flags of Mr. Qadri’s party and shouting slogans of support for the cleric. The dramatic scenes were the latest escalation of the country’s political chaos, which turned from peaceful protest into violent clashes on the streets of the capital over the weekend, posing a growing threat to the stability of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government.
The opposition politician Imran Khan is also demanding that Mr. Sharif resign, and thousands of his and Mr. Qadri’s supporters have been camped in the capital for the past two weeks. Their supporters, peaceful until this past weekend, clashed with the police after both leaders announced that they would demonstrate outside the prime minister’s official residence. Thousands of protesters loyal to the opposition politician Imran Khan and the cleric Muhammad Tahir-ul Qadri have gathered near the Parliament and the prime minister’s official residence in the city center, having burst through police lines over the weekend amid violent clashes that left at least three people dead and hundreds wounded.
On Sunday, clashes between protesters and police forces in the capital left at least three people dead and wounded at least 553. The country’s powerful military has urged the government to find a political solution to the crisis but has also warned the government against the use of force. The protesters who attacked the Pakistan Television building on Monday — a development that was reported by the network’s journalists, just before channels went off air — appeared to be mostly in Mr. Qadri’s camp, as evidenced by flags for Mr. Qadri’s party and slogans of support for him.
The protesters left the PTV headquarters before noon on Monday, after an army officer urged them to peacefully vacate. Several protesters shouted slogans in favor of the army as they trickled out of the building. They met little resistance as they entered the building, and they cheered the army troops as they left. Some demonstrators pulled a portrait of Mr. Sharif from the building and beat it with their shoes.
Athar Farooq Buttar, the news director at the television station, said the attack appeared to be planned. Mr. Khan’s and Mr. Qadri’s supporters have been camped in the capital for more than two weeks in a bid to force Mr. Sharif to resign. The violence at the weekend, in which protesters throwing paving stones clashed with police officers firing rubber bullets, led to a public intervention by the country’s military, which has a long history of seizing power in Pakistan during times of political strife.
“We were pressured to stop the transmission,” Mr. Buttar said. “We did not expect this kind of attack. The administration exhibited restraint. But stick-wielding mobs entered the building from different entrances. Their intention was to stop the transmission.” After an emergency meeting of its high command on Sunday night, the military issued a statement urging the country’s political leaders to find a peaceful solution to the crisis. But the military also warned the government against the use of force, which could limit Mr. Sharif’s options for ending the turmoil.
Mr. Buttar said the protesters first ended the broadcasting of PTV World, the English-language service, and then PTV News, the local-language service. Until the weekend, most analysts believed that the military would take advantage of the crisis to reduce Mr. Sharif’s authority, rather than oust him in a coup. The two sides have had a difficult relationship. Mr. Sharif’s last stint in power ended with a military takeover in 1999, and he has frequently clashed with the military leadership over policy issues since he became prime minister for a third time in June 2013.
“We were surprised about their technical know-how,” Mr. Buttar said. “They appeared to be common people, but they knew what to do.” But the growing chaos in the capital, Islamabad, and the sense of drift surrounding Mr. Sharif’s government have created a fluid and unpredictable situation.
He said the protesters also ransacked the dining area and took away food. In a bid to bolster his political standing, Mr. Sharif has called an emergency joint session of the lower and upper houses of Parliament for Tuesday.
“Nawaz Sharif is prime minister today. Tomorrow someone else will be the prime minister,” said Babar Chaudhry, an anchor at PTV. “This is damage to the state.” The government enjoys the backing of most of the opposition, which fears that Mr. Khan’s protests will upend the country’s democracy. But Mr. Sharif’s failure to find a negotiated end to the crisis, and the spreading violence in Islamabad, have badly eroded his authority.
In brief speeches Monday, Mr. Qadri congratulated his supporters, who had reached the outer gates of the prime minister’s official residence and the entrance to the Pakistan Secretariat, a massive compound where the offices of important government ministries are located. Mr. Sharif says he is willing to accede, at least in part, to the demands for electoral reform put forward by Mr. Khan and Mr. Qadri, as well as to allow an audit of the votes in some constituencies from last year’s election. But Mr. Sharif says he cannot under any circumstances accept the protesters’ call for his immediate resignation.
The demonstrators left the PTV headquarters by noon on Monday, after an army officer urged them to vacate the building peacefully. Several shouted slogans in favor of the army as they trickled out of the building.
Athar Farooq Buttar, the director of news at the television station, said the attack appeared to have been “planned.”
“We did not expect this kind of attack,” he said. “The administration exhibited restraint, but stick-wielding mobs entered the building from different entrances. Their intention was to stop the transmission.”
Mr. Buttar said the protesters first cut transmission at PTV World, the English-language news channel, and then at PTV News, the local-language service.
As the protesters broke into the building, one news anchor provided a running commentary of the attack on his newsroom. “We remain calm right now. The important thing is there’s no reason to panic,” he said. Then the station went off the air.
“We were surprised about their technical know-how,” said Mr. Buttar. “They appeared to be common people but they knew what to do.”
Then the protesters ransacked the dining area and took away food items, he added.
“Nawaz Sharif is prime minister today. Tomorrow someone else will be the prime minister,” said Babar Chaudhary, an anchor at PTV. “This is a damage to the state.”
Both Mr. Khan and Mr. Qadri claimed that the attackers were not their supporters. But in brief speeches Monday, Mr. Qadri congratulated his followers for their actions.
Mr. Qadri’s group is camped at the outer gates of the prime minister’s official residence and the entrance to the Pakistan Secretariat, a massive compound that includes government offices.
Government officials strongly condemned the attack on the television building.Government officials strongly condemned the attack on the television building.
“Both Qadri and Khan are saying these are not their people,” said Marvi Memon, a governing party lawmaker. “Then who are they?”“Both Qadri and Khan are saying these are not their people,” said Marvi Memon, a governing party lawmaker. “Then who are they?”