For intercity commuters, no end to miseries

Dharna enters third week as protesters remain at Faizabad

ISLAMABAD: When it first began on November 8, commuters and transporters in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi thought it may end in hours, just like any other protest, and that the roads will open by the next morning.

But as the sit-in at Faizabad enters its third week, with no immediate end in sight, commuters are increasingly worried about alternative routes to and from their destinations and how long they would have to wait in the impending traffic jam.

Hundreds of followers of cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi have kept the main intersection between the twin cities closed for traffic since November 8, demanding the removal of Law Minister Zahid Hamid, who they claim was responsible for the now-withdrawn change into the Khatm-e-Nabuwat declaration.

While the protesters remain camped on the road, the district authorities have cordoned off the site using containers, making the road impassable.

The government and the district authorities made contact with the protest leaders on several occasions since November 6, when they first started their march from Lahore. Direct negotiations between the government ministers and protest leaders were also held on Saturday, but these parleys have all failed to convince the protesters to end their protest and vacate Faizabad.

Though the Islamabad High Court had ordered the district administration and police to clear Faizabad of protesters by Saturday morning, the government has so far shown restraint, and have stopped short of ordering an operation to force the protesters off the road.

Instead, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has said that they want to resolve the issue through talks. The government apparently fears that any use of force may worsen the situation and lead to more chaos given the sensitivity of the issue.

To help convince the protesters, the government approached several influential religious leaders and ‘pirs’ belonging to the same sect. But so far, Rizvi and his associates remain at Faizabad.

Now the government has convened a grand meeting of leading clerics from all sects on Monday (today) to find a solution to the impasse.

Meanwhile, commuters and residents of the twin cities are going through one of the worst traffic snarl-up in years owing to the blockade at Faizabad. Commuting from Rawalpindi to Islamabad or vice versa, which normally takes no more than an hour, now takes around three hours to complete due to the long detours commuters have to take apart from navigating clogged roads.

Many had hoped that a solution would be found over the weekend, but these hopes now seem to have been lost.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2017.