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Pakistanis Punctuate Their Fury With Fire
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Sweeping up charred glass in front of a national bank, Liaqat Hussain, 40, a guard, said his wife had asked him to quit his job and join the protesters.
"We are all very upset in my neighborhood, and everyone was offering tires," Hussain said. "It's bad in a way when property is destroyed, but it's also what happens in Pakistan."
Some in the government say that venting grief and frustration is to be expected but that the crowds include hooligans simply looking to steal car radios, cellphones, other electronics and money.
Mohammed Rashid, 32, a teacher, said protesters who wanted to make a point but didn't want to damage private property burned tires.
"It's not good to destroy, but Pakistanis want attention," he said. "Everyone who felt the pain from their hearts gave a tire."
In cities across the country Sunday afternoon, protesters gathered and police sprayed clouds of tear gas to disperse them. In one neighborhood of Rawalpindi, police played a cat-and-mouse game with the protesters. A trickle of people would gather, and police would speed in on open-bed trucks. The protesters would run, hiding in tight alleyways behind women peeling garlic and men frying balls of dough.
A police officer on a motorbike stopped to chat with a group of protesters, telling them: "We are all upset. I can understand."
Nearby, the tire market was shuttered, and police stood guard around the neighborhood.
Special correspondent Imtiaz Ali in Peshawar contributed to this report.
