The police have detained over 2,000 workers of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) on the main Kashmir Highway when they tried to march towards the Benazir International Airport Sunday evening.
“The PAT workers – including women – arrived at Kashmir Highway from the nearby Golra Sharif shrine after overnight stay there,” a junior officer from the Golra police station told The Express Tribune. “However, riot police encircled them near the Islamabad Police Lines,” he added.
Ehsan Ali, one of the detained PAT workers, said that he along with 1,000 fellow party workers set off from Jhang Saturday evening to welcome their leader at the Islamabad airport. “A large number of people from Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Lahore have also arrived at Golra Sharif en route to the airport,” he added.
Some PAT workers were wielding bamboo sticks but remained peaceful when the riot police intercepted them, the police officer said. To avoid a traffic logjam the police removed them from Kashmir Highway and pinned them at one place.
“The police are not allowing us to go to the airport. They are forcing us to go back to our homes,” Ali said, adding that most of the PAT workers have travelled with their families by special transport arranged by their senior leaders.
The police have also detained over 1,000 people at the Golra Sharif shrine while they were approaching Kashmir Highway. Aalamgir said the local administration was arranging buses and trucks to transport the detained people back to their cities.
Barkat Hussain, another PAT worker who travelled from Lahore, said that they would not go back to Lahore. “We came here to receive our leader,” he told The Express Tribune. “The police and administration should have no issue with this.”
Separately, the Islamabad police clashed with PAT workers near the Pirwadhai area who were trying to reach the airport via IJ Principle Road. The police also confiscated some banners and flags from the protesters.
The PAT workers tried to stage a protest on IJ Principle Road, which is the only road open for traffic. The police fired tear gas canisters and use batons to disperse the protesters who, in turn, threw stones at the police.
PAT district leader Ghulam Ali confirmed the incident and claimed that a large number of supporters were staying at a Minhajul Quran school in Bangash Colony, Rawalpindi.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 23rd, 2014.
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