Another anti-government protest had come and gone in Pakistan’s once peaceful capital, and Saira Bano was ready to get her city back.
For four days, Islamabad had been a tense battleground after supporters of a jailed former prime minister, Imran Khan, marched into the city.
The capital, home to 2.4 million people, became a “container city” as the authorities stacked more than 700 shipping containers to block key routes and maintain order. Schools and shops closed, internet service was cut, and roads teemed with thousands of police officers scrutinizing passers-by.
“This is not the Islamabad I grew up in,” said Ms. Bano, a schoolteacher who had to cancel her classes for three consecutive days. “Everywhere I looked, there were barricades and containers. We feel isolated and anxious in our own city.”
A day of intense clashes on Tuesday between Mr. Khan’s supporters and security forces culminated in a hasty retreat by his party’s top leadership, including his wife, Bushra Bibi, who had vowed to stay at the protest site “till my last breath.”
Party supporters were pushed from D-Chowk, an Islamabad square that was the designated endpoint of the march, early on Wednesday. Ali Nasir Rizvi, the city’s police chief, said that 954 protesters had been arrested after defying a ban on public gatherings between Sunday and Tuesday.
For months, Mr. Khan’s detention has stoked political tensions across the country. His backers say they will not stop agitating for his release on what they call trumped-up charges.
But for residents of Islamabad, the disruptions from near-monthly rallies in support of Mr. Khan have caused increasing frustration. People are exhausted by frequent closures and restrictions — what many call an unwelcome new way of life.
“Islamabad was once one of the most peaceful cities in the country, but in recent years, it has become far more turbulent,” said Shabbir Farooq, a clerk in the city government.
“The moment people sense even the slightest sign of chaos, they brace themselves because the authorities lock down the city without hesitation,” Mr. Farooq said. “Some head to their nearby hometowns, while others start stocking up on food and essentials.”
Shop owners said they had been hit hard by the protests.
“Pakistan’s economy is already in a bad situation, and business is already slow,” said Naveed Ali, who sells computer-related items near D-Chowk, which is also referred to as Democracy Chowk. “In this situation, we can’t afford business closures for days.”
Commuters, too, are suffering the effects. In recent days, travel between Islamabad and other cities became nearly impossible because of the shipping containers blocking roads and highways.
Asghar Ali, 45, who was visiting relatives in London, said that to reach the Islamabad airport, he had endured a five-hour ordeal involving two cars and a walk from a district in a neighboring province.
“The government needs to find a better way to handle protests,” Mr. Ali said. “We can’t keep living like this.”
Mr. Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or P.T.I., claimed that several of its workers were killed or injured during the protest because of “indiscriminate firing” of guns and the use of tear gas by the authorities. Attaullah Tarar, Pakistan’s information minister, denied that officers had shot at protesters.
A group of five Khan supporters, hiding in a house in Islamabad to evade the police crackdown, said that clashes between officers and protesters had intensified on Tuesday afternoon.
“Clouds of smoke blanketed the area after the law enforcement agencies fired uncountable tear gases and rubber bullets,” said Jibran Ahmed, a university student. “People were running in every direction.” He acknowledged that amid the chaos, some protesters had picked up tear gas canisters and hurled them back at the police.
Political analysts and even Mr. Khan’s own supporters are increasingly questioning the effectiveness of the protests. The ruling establishment has vowed not to give an inch, and the cycle of unrest has shown no signs of yielding tangible results.
“Pakistan’s protests had no winners,” Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, wrote on X.
The crackdown by the military and the government, he said, had only made the public angrier, while P.T.I., in its retreat, had accomplished little after having made grand statements about its determination to fight until the end. And Pakistan had once again been distracted from its urgent economic and security challenges.
“Every month, workers from across the country gather in Islamabad, enduring the government’s harsh crackdowns in the hope that Mr. Khan will be released,” said Mr. Ahmed, the P.T.I. backer who was holed up in Islamabad. “But each time, our efforts end in vain. It’s starting to exhaust the workers and leave them disheartened.”
Although the protesters had been dispersed by Wednesday morning, the atmosphere in Islamabad remained tense, with the political uncertainty casting a long shadow. Many residents fear another wave of unrest could erupt at any moment, disrupting daily life once again.
“It feels like a never-ending cycle until Mr. Khan is released,” Ms. Bano said. “We just want to live our lives without this constant chaos.”
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