• Police use teargas, batons to disperse protesters; PTI activists hurl rocks at cops
• Pindi’s entry points sealed; Gandapur’s caravan braves shelling, but was stopped near Burhan interchange; Gohar, Raja briefly detained

RAWALPINDI: As PTI supporters took to the streets to converge on Liaquat Bagh for their demonstration, Punjab police arrested over 110 supporters, including party leaders, after clashes while the smell of teargas used to disperse the protesters permeated the air.

The garrison town remained ‘under virtual siege’ on Saturday, with containers placed on every route leading to the protest site as well as Murree Road, which passes through the heart of the city.

On more than 25 ‘blocking points’, contingents of the anti-riot police armed with teargas grenades and rubber bullets were stationed to stop the PTI protesters. In total, more than 4,200 police officials were deployed to counter the demonstration. A senior police official said PTI leaders, including Seemabia Tahir, were also detained and cases against them were being registered.

In the afternoon, PTI officials started moving towards Liaquat Bagh in small groups. The party activists asse­m­bled in narrow streets along the road using the densely populated neighbourhoods as a cover but attempts to occupy Murree Road were repulsed by the police.

The workers then retaliated by pelting the police with stones, and the latter responded with teargas and baton-charge to push them back. The PTI workers as they retreated towards the streets hurled more rocks at the police amid intense teargas shelling.

After some time, the PTI workers gathered on College Road, which had been blocked with a container. However, their attempts to remove the container were not fruitful as the police again pushed them back using teargas.

Besides small groups led by local leaders, Imran Khan’s sisters Aleema and Uzma Khan before the sunset appe­ared near Marrir Chowk on their way back from Adiala Jail but the police promptly used teargas to disperse them. A group of the PTI legal wing gath­ered at the Quaid-i-Azam Hall in the Rawa­lpindi district courts in the afternoon, but the pol­ice dispersed them as well.

This hide-and-seek between the police and the party supporters continued late into the evening and only ended after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur called off the protest.

‘PTI withdrew permission request’

Speaking about the events leading to the protest, an official of the district administration told Dawn that the PTI on Tuesday sought permission for a gathering at Liaquat Bagh or Bhatta Chowk.

The former ruling party was given 24 hours to submit an affidavit but they did not comply, the official claimed, adding that the district administration had given them till Thursday to submit the undertaking but the PTI chose to move the Lahore High Court instead. The official said that the district administration invited the local party leaders for discussions about the venue but they changed their mind.

The PTI withdrew its application from the district administration office as well as the high court and issued a call for protest, he said, adding that the government imposed Section 144 to stop the demonstration suspecting that the PTI could attempt to enter Islamabad.

When contacted, Deputy Commissioner Dr Hassan Waqar Cheema told Dawn that the situation in the district remained “peaceful” except for some locations on Murree Road.

“Four companies of Rangers are in Rawalpindi but we did not call them as the situation remained under control,” he said.

In reply to a question, he said that the administration did not reject the PTI’s request for a public meeting but asked them to submit an affidavit and discuss the venue but the party seemed uninterested.

Gandapur goes back

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, who had vowed to reach Liaquat Bagh despite odds, had to go back in the evening after he was stopped by the Punjab police near the Burhan interchange. Earlier, the caravan led by CM Gandapur braved intense teargas shelling near the Chach interchange in Attock but the charged crowd managed to remove the containers and move forward.

A PTI rally led by Azam Swati was also met with teargas at the Hazra-M1 junction near Burhan.

At two locations, violent clashes broke out between the PTI supporters and the police; no casualty had been reported by the time this paper went to press.

The G.T. Road was also blocked with containers in Burhan, Wah Garden Bridge in Hassanabdal, Kala Bridge, and Margalla Hills in Taxila. Hotels and fuel stations along the Rawalpindi-Peshawar road were also shut down by the local administration.

‘2,000 police officials in capital’

In Islamabad, as many as 2,000 police were deployed as the entry points of the capital remained sealed in light of the protest.

The capital police also briefly detained PTI interim chairman Gohar Ali Khan and Salman Akram Raja. Accor­ding to officials, several PTI supporters were detained and moved to different locations.

Police officers told Dawn that the PTI leaders moving along in a caravan were intercepted near Chungi No 26. They were asked to turn back but upon refusal, the police separated both leaders from the crowd and took them in custody.

They were soon released and the police asked them to return to Islamabad.

Meanwhile, the capital police on Saturday sealed several points of capital keeping in view of the PTI’s protest at Rawalpindi. The police said that the capital entry points, including Faizabad.

Amjad Iqbal in Taxila also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2024