Pakistani Protesters Press Into Islamabad as Police Fire on the Demonstrations

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One of the legacies of the Biden administration will be its commitment to supporting Pakistan’s military junta government to the very last. Even as evidence has piled up of gross human-rights violations and election interference—and with U.S. Congress members calling on the president to pressure Pakistan—Biden’s State Department has refused to do anything except express support for its leader, general Asim Munir. Now with opposition activists amassing across the country, the country’s government, led by the military-backed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, has begun shooting at protestors, cutting internet access, and blocking roads in an attempt to stifle demonstrations and prevent the rest of the world from following what’s happening. As the government crackdown on the demonstrations intensifies, the U.S. State Department is urging the demonstrators to “refrain from violence” and calling on the Pakistani government “to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Over the weekend, images of roads teeming with protesters from across Pakistan attempting to make their way to Islamabad, the country’s capital, spread across social media. They are demanding the release of imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan and the resignation of the military-backed government that ousted him in 2022. By Monday, multiple convoys of PTI supporters had made their way into Islamabad amid heavy police shelling. Due to major roadblocks on all national highways and motorways, other convoys of PTI supporters from the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were still en route, including one being led by Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi. Notably, rallies were also organized by diaspora activists around the world, including in the U.S. 

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