ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:
Security forces dispersed protesters in the capital of Pakistan overnight.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Yeah, that's right. They marched to Islamabad to demand the release of the jailed former prime minister, Imran Khan. Hundreds of protesters have been arrested since Sunday.
SCHMITZ: With me now is NPR's Diaa Hadid. She covers Pakistan from her base in Mumbai. Good morning, Diaa.
DIAA HADID, BYLINE: Good morning, Rob.
SCHMITZ: So bring us up to speed, Diaa. What happened with these protests, and where do things stand?
HADID: Right. Well, protesters had reached downtown Islamabad. They defied tear gas and climbed over shipping containers to get there. There was also violence. Six people were killed on Tuesday, including four security personnel. Journalists covering the march said protesters also attacked them, including an Associated Press cameraman who was taken to hospital. And once protesters had made it to the city center, they announced a sit-in until the former prime minister, Imran Khan, is released. But overnight, paramilitary forces pushed them out. Videos shared by Khan supporters showed smoke, flashing lights, people running, the sound of guns firing. I spoke to a young woman who was there. She requested anonymity. She's worried about being detained if identified because there's been crackdowns on Khan supporters.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: All you could see was tear gas, and it was just a lot of chaos. I was between the crowd at that time. My dad and I saw a body fall in front of us. When the firing started, it was all pitch dark, but I could hear bullets being shot at people.
SCHMITZ: Wow. That sounds terrifying.
HADID: Yeah. Khan's media team say dozens of people were injured and another two people were killed. And following that crackdown, Khan's team called off the protest for now. And the government's interpreted that as a victory for them. The information minister even told local media that protesters ran like cowards. He said they'd even left their shoes behind.
SCHMITZ: So it sounds like the government is taking a very tough line in all of this. What can we expect in the coming days?
HADID: Well, the coming days may well reflect what we've seen in the past 18 months since Imran Khan was jailed - a cycle of increasingly violent encounters. I spoke to Michael Kugelman. He's the director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center, and he says this violence reflects a crisis of legitimacy at the very top.
MICHAEL KUGELMAN: You have a critical mass of the public that has essentially lost confidence in public institutions, and that includes the army.
HADID: It's important to note the army is Pakistan's most powerful institution. It was largely sacrosanct among Pakistanis, and that's changed now. Many of Khan's supporters see the army as having rigged elections this February to propel this current government to power. So for now, it's an intractable crisis - the army against Khan and his supporters. And now that they've deployed against civilians in the capital - which is quite unusual in Pakistan - it could happen again because nothing's actually been resolved.
SCHMITZ: But for now, the protests have been dispersed, right?
HADID: Yeah. The government says life's returning to normal. Cars are on the road, where the crackdown happened. It's unclear what protesters will do next. Two people I spoke to said they were angry at their protest leaders because they appeared to have fled as the crackdown began. That includes Khan's wife, Bushra Bibi. She only appears in a white gown and a face veil - presents herself as a spiritual guru. Now, the government's playing on that anger. One minister told local media that these events were the fault of one woman.
SCHMITZ: That's NPR's Diaa Hadid. Diaa, thank you.
HADID: You're welcome, Rob.
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