Violent mobs on a rampage, briefly seize PTV headquarters

• Sporadic clashes between protesters affiliated with PTI and PAT and police personnel continue throughout Monday
• Mob forces its way into PTV Headquarters, damages equipment and cuts off transmission before being pushed out by army and Rangers personnel 
• Khan and Qadri urge supporters to refrain from violence unless provoked; not to enter buildings guarded by army personnel
• SSP Islamabad among several people injured in brickbatting between police and protesters
• Defence minister says govt considering decisive action against protesters

Despite heavy rain on Monday morning in the federal capital, crowds of protesters affiliated with Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) fought running battles with police personnel all day long after breaking the main gate into the Pakistan Secretariat area that houses government ministries as well as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s official residence.
Hundreds of PTI and PAT protesters armed with clubs also briefly seized the state broadcaster Pakistan Television Corporation’s (PTV) headquarters just before mid-day, cutting off transmissions for over an hour.
All entrances to PTV headquarters were occupied by supporters as they began to damage the property, working their way through the first, second and third floors. Wires were cut as protesters entered the panel room, which led to a temporary breakdown of all PTV transmission.
“They have stormed the PTV office,” a news anchor said just before the screen went blank. “PTV staff performing their journalistic duties are being beaten up.” A PTV source said the protesters had occupied the main control room and smashed some equipment.
Half an hour later, personnel of the paramilitary Rangers and a Pakistan Army unit arrived on the scene and calmly escorted the protesters out and placed the building under their protection.
PTV Managing Director Mohammed Malick told reporters the mob had “ransacked” the building.
“They destroyed equipment and stole equipment. No one seriously injured but we’re pretty shaken up,” he said.
Meanwhile outside the headquarters, demonstrators had written the name of Qadri and slogans such as “Inqilab” across the walls and on all cars in the vicinity. All pictures other than those of Quaid-e-Azam inside the building have also reportedly been destroyed and displaced.
Both Khan and Qadri appeared on the shipping containers they have used as stages to urge their supporters to vacate the building. But their appeals came when the army had already cleared the building.
Khan tweeted that PTI supporters had not stormed the PTV building. Qadri made similar claims but TV footage showed the firebrand cleric making announcements that his supporters had taken “Qabza” (possession) of state buildings.
Later he told his supporters to vacate the building and keep themselves to the limits set by Pakistan Army soldiers.
Both men however kept encouraging their supporters not to retreat in face of police and make all efforts to reach the PM House, where both parties plan to stage a joint sit-in. They also vowed not to back down from their demand of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s resignation.
Protests descended into deadly chaos over the weekend, with demonstrators clashing with police in the Red Zone. Three people have been reported killed in the clashes so far while hundreds others, including police personnel, have been injured.
Sporadic clashes between police and protesters continued throughout the day in which several people, including Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Islamabad Asamatullah Junejo and his staff officer, were seriously injured.
Junejo took charge of his office on Sunday and talking to reporters outside a hospital, appealed to Khan and Qadri to ensure that their workers remain peaceful.
The protesters also damaged public and private property, setting fire to a container and breaking motorcycles and vehicles that came in their way.
GOVT CONSIDERING DECISIVE ACTION:
Amid reports that senior police official Tahir Alam Khan has been appointed the new DIG Operations Islamabad with additional charge of Inspector General (IG), the government made evident its intention to launch a selective crackdown against the protesters.
In an interview, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told a foreign news agency that the government would not hesitate to enforce its writ and was considering cracking down against those attacking state institutions.
“If not mass arrests, selective use of force can be used,” Asif said, describing one option the government may decide to exercise following a meeting between PM Sharif and his top aides.
“The writ of the state must be enforced. I personally feel that the next few hours will determine the course of coming events,” he said.
Commentators have been divided over what Nawaz Sharif could do to defuse the crisis, and Asif’s remarks confirmed that a crackdown was on the cards as the government debates its further actions.
Asif, considered to be in favour of talks, is one of a growing number of members of PM Sharif’s cabinet who believe it is time for tougher action against thousands of protesters massed in Islamabad to demand the prime minister step down.
Asif dismissed speculation that Pakistan Army was behind the protests.
“The army as an institution has absolutely nothing to do with this. They have supported democracy,” he said. “This is a very good thing, very reassuring and gives us a lot of comfort.”
“The worst thing that could happen is if something happens outside the limits of the constitution,” he said. “Anything which is not according to the constitution and which is not according to settled principles of law.”