PESHAWAR: An overzealous police in Peshawar on Friday blocked the main University Road ahead of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to the Islamia College to turn its centenary celebrations into a nightmare and torment for commuters.

Ironically, the road was blocked unnecessarily from 10:30am onwards, when the prime minister was addressing the inaugural function of a model school at Punchgaran in Islamabad, broadcast live on television till 11:00am.

And if this was not ridiculously enough, to add insult to injury, the police went ahead with their security overdose despite knowing that the prime minister flew by helicopter to land at the historic Islamia College’s helipad and took the chopper’s ride back to the Governor’s House, Peshawar.

Police block University Road even when Sharif was at a function in Islamabad, ignore PM will use chopper to reach Islamia College

Anxiety that seemed to border paranoia, the police had called for additional security help from the military, while the paramilitary too was deployed in sufficient number.

An official said the police chief had sought additional security help from the military late last night, and even the men in khakis were puzzled over the request but acceded to it.

In desperation, the police also requested the venue of the centenary celebrations to be moved to the governor’s house.

The governor’s house declined the request, a senior official said.

The decision to block the road was conceived last night without taking the district administration into confidence.

“No plans were shared,” an official said.

As the road blockade caused a gridlock and chocked traffic at several points in the provincial capital, the district administration agitated the issue with the city police, but to no avail.

“If the prime minister was going to Islamia College by helicopter and coming back by helicopter, what was the need for blocking the road and torturing and tormenting the people,” the official said.

The green belt and the fence that serves as a buffer between the sprawling ground of the college and the road was covered with tents to block the view.

Additionally, the podium for the prime minister was made closer to the building with hundreds of students and those in attendance sitting with the rear to the road.

There was no way, any one could have hurled even a stone, the official said. This was the police in an overdrive mode, the official remarked.

Thousands of commuters including women, children and the elderly had to suffer hours long traffic clogging due to road blocakde.

The provincial capital’s main traffic artery University Road was closed for all kinds of traffic coming towards city and going towards University Road.

Traffic was diverted towards Ring Road, which too choked down, and thus, causing gridlock on almost all major and minor roads in the limits of the cantonment, city and its suburbs.

Traffic coming towards Saddar was closed near Phase-III Chowk and university bound traffic was stopped at Amn Chowk. Similarly, Khyber Road was also closed to commuters, which diverted all cantonment and University Road bound traffic to Shouba Bazaar via Soekarno Square.

The diversion of traffic from all over the city choked the Ring Road and its adjacent arteries and commuters were forced to move at snail pace on clogged roads, besides taking long detours.

Thousands of commuters were forced to walk on foot to reach their destinations due to blockades, while a large number of students could also not get home till 2:00pm though schools closed down at 11:30am due to half day on Fridays.

Most of the public transport stayed off the road and vehicles coming from General Bus Stand were off-loading commuters going towards Saddar, University Road and Hayatabad near Hashtanagri and Firdous stops.

Yasir, a local resident, told Dawn that he was going to Saddar for some personal business but the vehicle he was riding off-loaded him near Firdous.

“I am going to Saddar on foot,” he said, adding that he was not sure why the roads were closed.

Mujadid Shah, an employee at Fast University, Hayatabad, said there were was a scheduled examination going on at the university but the papers were delayed for about an hour or so after more than 20 students phoned the university saying they were unable to make it to exams due to the road blockades.

A Rescue 1122 official requesting anonymity said that traffic wardens were directed to not allow vehicles including ambulances to cross blockades.

“They were only allowing VIP movement to pass through,” he said.

When contacted, Peshawar SSP (traffic) Sidiq Baloch said he did as he was directed and that he did not know the exact reasons of why the blockade was ordered.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2015