Qadri leads protest march to Islamabad

Supporters of Pakistani religious leader Tahir-ul Qadri take part in the protest march at Domeli, about 100km from Islamabad yesterday.

AFP/Islamabad

Tens of thousands of Pakistani protesters streamed towards Islamabad yesterday, led by a cleric calling for revolution but accused of trying to sow political chaos ahead of elections.

Tahir-ul Qadri, a Pakistani-Canadian who returned to his homeland last month after years in Toronto, accuses the government of being corrupt and incompetent, and says polls cannot be held until key reforms are enacted.

He claims to be leading one million people into Islamabad and says his followers will camp out on the streets until his demands are met.

But the significance of the rally will hinge on turnout, whether there is any violence and to what extent the protesters are able to penetrate Islamabad, where shipping containers have been used to seal off the main approaches.

In the town of Jhelum, 120km south of the capital, senior police official Mohamed Anwar estimated the size of the crowd at around 50,000 people travelling in 350 vehicles, alongside a heavy police presence.

Witnesses said there were tens of thousands, carrying the green and white national flags of Pakistan and the flags of Qadri’s religious and educational organisation, which has a network in Pakistan and all over the world.

Men, women and children piled onto rooftops of buses, flashing victory signs in a five-kilometre convoy of vehicles, an AFP reporter said.

Anthems blasted out of loudspeakers as protesters danced to drumbeats and local residents showered the passing convoy with rose petals.

Qadri wants a caretaker government to be set up in consultation with the military and judiciary when parliament disbands in mid-March, and is calling for reform so that “honest people” can be elected at polls due by mid-May.

As it stands, the interim government is due to be formed in consultation between the the major opposition and ruling parties.

“We will stay in Islamabad until this government is finished, all the assemblies are dissolved, all corrupt people are totally ousted, a just constitution is imposed, rule of law is enforced, and true and real democracy is enforced,” he told AFP on Monday.

If held on schedule, the election will mark the first democratic transition of power between two civilian governments in Pakistan’s 65-year history, which has been marked by bloodless coups and extensive periods of military rule.