ISLAMABAD: The federal government appears determined to block the Azadi March from leaving its designated protest site after Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman threatened to march on D-Chowk on Sunday (today) if the prime minister does not resign.

Senior officials decided on Saturday that the protesters would not be allowed to march towards D-Chowk from Peshawar Mor at any cost.

The meeting, which was chaired by the interior secretary, was also attended by representatives of the army and Rangers as well as the Islamabad chief commissioner and the police chief.

High-level meeting permits use of force to counter violation of agreement

The meeting reviewed the situation following Mr Rehman’s two-day deadline and discussed how to deal with any untoward situation after it concludes. The administration was asked to meet organisers of the sit-in and ensure their earlier agreement, under which the JUI-F said the march would not enter the Red Zone, is implemented.

Directives were also issued permitting the use of force, including arrest, tear gas and baton charge to counter violations of the agreement and the law.

Capital administration and police officials told Dawn the venue would be sealed with shipping containers to confine protesters and JUI-F leaders to the protest site.

Roads leading to the Red Zone from Peshawar Mor and all roads leading further into Islamabad, including through residential sectors, will be closed off with containers. A contingent of police will surround the containers to intercept marchers if they successfully remove the cordon around the venue, they said.

Separate rings of security will also be in place to take action against the marchers.

Rangers and Frontier Constabulary will be deployed in the Red Zone alongside police, and all the roads leading to the Red Zone will be placed under surveillance. Police contingents will be deployed in various areas, including on Kashmir Highway and Khayaban-i-Suhrawardi.

Separately, a few participants of the march made an effigy of the prime minister and pelted it with stones, while others held a dummy funeral. The JUI-F leadership criticised both acts and asked the participants to refrain from such practices.

Volunteers from Ansarul Islam took notice of the effigy and removed the participants responsible from the venue, the officials said. The group that held a funeral was also removed.

Police officers told Dawn a few people were also taken into custody at the protest on Saturday.

A man was apprehended by Ansarul Islam volunteers for hoisting an Afghan Taliban flag, they said, and was handed over to the police for legal action. The officers said the man was taken to an undisclosed location.

Five people were also caught stealing purses and mobile phones from participants by volunteers. Police officials deployed at the metro bus depot told Dawn five pickpockets were handed over to them by volunteers, who were taken to the Industrial Area subdivision for legal action.

In addition, more than 300 participants have been injured or fallen ill in the last three days.

Pakistan Red Crescent first aid trainer Mehmood Saboor and volunteer Tasawar Ahmed Butt told Dawn that they had treated more than 350 people at the medical camp set up at the protest site.

They said most of them had sustained injuries to their feet and legs from stones, road dividers, shrubbery and barbed wire.

They were provided first aid at the camp and a number of people were taken to hospital in ambulances and on motorcycles if they needed further treatment, including stitches.

They said a number of participants had complained of the flu and headaches, and sleeping out in the open in cold weather had also affected them.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2019