In the ICT administration, several steps were taken on Friday to cordon off the red zone to avoid any sensitization involving roads being barricaded by shipping containers in expectation of a sit-in by Jamaat-e-Islami at D-Chowk. The protest is to be done due to a consistent increase in price of electricity.
Concerning access to the Red Zone and the federal capital, authorities also closed Faizabad to Murree Road, Srinagar Highway, Rawat T crossing, and Peshawar GT-Road. This led to traffic jams in Islamabad and Rawalpindi the two major cities of Pakistan. Police forces were formed at some strategic positions like D-Chowk, Faizabad interchange, and Murree road so that protesters could not enter the city. Buckets were kept at different points and yet a small passageway was left open for Vehicles.
Measures were also taken to bar those protesting from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa from gaining access to the capital as entry and exit points were blocked and the police were deployed. Moreover, Section 144 was applied to prevent assembly, protest, and demonstration before the opposition parties’ planned rallies.
He further elaborated that the administration has put a strict restriction on adhering to Section 144 and anyone defying it will be dealt with strictly. While JI is carrying the campaign against the increase in electricity tariff rates, JUI F and other groups are carrying out a protest for a recent Supreme Court judgment, PTI also planned a protest but they did not do so on Friday.
However, road shows were confronted with serious challenges, still, several JI’s supporters came out on the planned streets in different areas of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Some of the arrested members through the JI were at D-Chowk and other places. In response to that, JI declared new sit-in centers at Zero Point, Murree Road, and Chungi 26, GT Road. Hafiz Naeemur Rehman and Liaqat Baloch were the ones who were mainly involved in JI and were the main leaders of the protests at these particular sites.
JI Secretary General Ameerul Azeem along with other leaders of the party also organized sit-ins at Murree Road and Chungi 26. JI chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman insisted that the demonstration would not stop pointing to the fact that the victory would continue force until the organization’s demands were met. In response to expressed his dissatisfaction with the current government and asserted that more arrests would deepen people’s support for the organization.
