Azadi March turned sit-in People suffer owing to restricted entry into Red Zone

The restricted entry to Red Zone which houses all ministries, the apex court, parliament, Federal Board of Revenue and the Diplomatic Enclave which houses most of the embassies in the wake of security arrangements for the ongoing Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal's (JUI-F) Azadi March turned sit-in, has become a nuisance for the people of Islamabad since October 31.

The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration and police have placed a large number of shipping containers on all roads leading to Red Zone creating hardships for government employees and those seeking visas.

The ICT administration has allowed severely restricted entry to Red Zone in spite of the fact that JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has announced that the marchers will not move to D-Chowk due to which two to three kilometer long queues of vehicles are seen at different points in the Red Zone.

The administration has also shut down Metro bus routes, creating problems for thousands who use the service to commute on daily basis.

A senior official of Ministry of Interior said that the administration has placed containers around Red Zone as a preventive measure and has allowed restricted entry.

He said that high-ups of operation police, Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) and administration are continuously reviewing the security arrangements on hourly basis but containers placed on roadside at Red Zone will not be removed till complete end of JUI-F sit-in.

"There will be no compromise on security of sensitive installations as well as Diplomatic Enclave", he said. People from different walks of life including government employees expressed their anger over the closure of roads by the administration. They said that road closure creates great problems and hardships for them.

Sources in ICT administration said that the security arrangement made for JUI-F sit-in has cost the government Rs 100 million. The rent of a 40-foot container for five days is Rs 100,000 while a 20-foot container costs Rs 70,000 for the same time period, they said.

As many as 8,000 personnel of capital police along with 3,000 FC personnel, 4,000 police, 3,000 personnel from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police and 500 from Kashmir and Railways police are performing duties in capital. The cost of three meals per day per official is Rs450 and police have also hired additional vehicles for their transportation.