As the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl's Azadi March onto the federal capital nears, the civic authorities of twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi have taken different steps, including placement of shipping containers on roads leading to Red Zone as well as entry and exits points of the federal capital, to prevent entry of marchers.
The JUI-F proposed anti-government 'Azadi March' scheduled to start on October 27 will enter Islamabad on October 31. The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration has placed a number of containers along roadside at Nadra Chowk, Serena Chowk, D-Chowk and all other roads leading to Red Zone which houses Diplomatic Enclave, Prime Minister Secretariat, Parliament House, Supreme Court and other government offices.
The Islamabad police have also placed containers along roadsides at all city entry and exit points for blocking roads as a strategy to prevent entry of workers of JUI-F and other opposition parties including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP) into the city.
The district administration Islamabad has demanded Rs 150 million additional for security arrangements. The city police have demanded 20,000 additional personnel from the provincial governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) to boost security on the occasion and avoid any untoward incident. The city police have also asked the people associated with various kinds of businesses including catering, tent services, hotel, motel, guest house, generator, workshop, hardware, sound system, and excavator machines not to provide any kind of facility to the protesters.
The anti-riot forces of the city police have started anti-riot training at police training school. The personnel of different ranks equipped with anti-riot gears including anti-riot shields, helmets, batons and non-lethal weapons are participating in trainings on daily basis, they said, adding that main objectives of training is how to stop protesters and save themselves. The training will continue till Azadi March, he said.
Meanwhile, the city police beefed up security in the city and started conducting checking at all entry points of Red Zone and the federal capital.
A senior police officer said that as per strategy of the government, negotiating committee of government will hold talks with the opposition parties and if negotiations fail then a crackdown will be launched against the JUI-F workers.
Meanwhile, shipment containers have reportedly been placed near Attock Bridge on Motorway as well as GT Road.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019
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