PESHAWAR: All routes leading to the US Consulate have been sealed in Peshawar ahead of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC) “Hurmat Rasool march” today (Monday).
Containers have been placed around the city, causing severe traffic jams and troubling commuters on Sunday. At least 400 police personnel will be deployed alongside routes to be taken by the rally.
Najeeb Safi, a student of Peshawar University who was stuck in the traffic, criticised the authorities for accommodating repeated protests and blocking roads. “Instead of imposing a ban on such demonstrations, the government is facilitating protesters who had torn apart the city,” he said.
The DPC organisers have planned to start the protest from the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) headquarters in Chamkani and go towards GT Road, Gulbahar, Hashtnagri, Firdous Chowk, Rehman Baba Square, Khyber Road, Gora Qabristan and University Road. The rally, which is in protest of an anti-Islam film, is scheduled to culminate in Karkhano Market.
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) provincial chief, Maulana Yousaf Shah, who is a member of the rally’s organising committee, insisted that it goes through Khyber Road, which falls in the red zone. The US Consulate is located close to the Shama Chowk at the end of Khyber Road.
The district coordinator officer in Peshawar, Javed Marwat, told DPC leaders in a meeting to change their route and use the Ring Road instead. The meeting was attended by Jamaat-e-Islami’s Provincial General Secretary Shabir Ahmad Khan, JUI-S leader Maulana Yousaf Shah, Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamat’s (ASWJ) Provincial Convener Ghulam Mustafa Jadoon, and DPC’s Provincial Media Coordinator Advocate Israrullah Khan. DPC leaders insist that the protest will be peaceful.
The meeting ended with a deadlock and the DPC leaders remained unconvinced. The DCO was in his second meeting with them when this report was filed.
The DPC has selected routes where most of the violent incidents occurred during the Ishq-e-Rasool (pbuh) riots on September 21. Seven people died on that day and damages estimated amounted to Rs1 billion.
Missionary schools announced that they will remain closed today.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 1st, 2012.
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