Pakistan plunged deeper into a political chaos on Sunday night as a defiant Nawaz Sharif joined by tens of thousands of supporters in Lahore was headed towards Islamabad for a mass sit-in front of Parliament on Monday amid reports that a Inspector General of Police of Punjab province’s police and several senior officials had resigned and joined his ‘long march’ for the restoration of the Constitution.
Heading for a showdown with the government, Sharif, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader and a two-time premier, defied his house arrest in Lahore as one of Pakistan’s biggest civil disobedience movement unfolded with hundreds of stone-throwing anti-government protesters including lawyers fighting pitched battles with police in the capital of Punjab province. As people poured out into the streets of Lahore in support of the lawyers and opposition party workers, President Asif Ali Zardari and the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party appeared to be increasingly isolated.
Several government and police officials resigned from their posts and joined the long march, reflecting the popular support for the protest. In Islamabad, Deputy Attorney General Abdul Hai Gilani told reporters he had quit his post to protest the torture of lawyers, locking up of the High Court and police actionagainst protestors. In Lahore, reports said District Coordination Officer Sajjad Bhutta, IGP Khalid Farooq, DIG (Operations) Amjad Saleemi too had resigned after being told by their superiors to open fire to stop the protestors.
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