Security put on high alert in Rawalpindi

Police personnel deployed outside mosques and churches

ISLAMABAD:

Security has been put on high alert in Rawalpindi after the Peshawar bomb blast.

Sources said that security has been enhanced outside sensitive buildings and installations, while armed police personnel have been deployed outside mosques, Imambargahs and Churches.

Police said that more than 4,000 personnel were stationed at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium for the Pakistan Australia match. Security has been tightened in various parts of the city and Cantonment areas following a bomb blast during Friday prayers in Peshawar.

The city's crowded markets such as Raja Bazaar, Bara Market, Murree Road, Commercial Market, Bank Road, Mall Road, Tench Bazaar, Misrial Road and others were being monitored by CCTV cameras.

Patrols of the Dolphin force and police personnel have been increased. Police said they have also increased security at the Islamabad international airport and railway stations.

Police said that in the current situation, six teams of the anti-terrorism force had been placed on high alert to deal with any possible emergency. SHOs of all police stations have been directed to be in full liaison with other law enforcement agencies. Peace committees and mosque committees have been directed to deploy volunteers at the entrances during prayer hours and promptly report any suspicious person to the police.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain asked opposition leaders to come to the stadium and support their team to strengthen the government's hands in the revival of international cricket, the country was witnessing after a gap of almost 24 years.

The minister accompanied by Governor Sindh Imran Ismail visited and talked to the media at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium where the first test cricket match is being played between Pakistan and Australia.

"In such a time when [international] cricket is reviving in Pakistan, and such a mega event [Pakistan-Australia cricket series] is taking place, they [opposition parties] are talking about the long march. We will give opposition leaders a free box to watch the match," Fawad said while extending his invitation to the opposition.

Read: Suicide attacker, handlers used rickshaw to reach Peshawar imambargah: CTD

He asked the opposition to be a part of a national cause and join people in the stadium instead of doing politics of agitation and undue criticism on the relief packages given to the masses. The opposition's planned long march against the government would dent the country's image, especially when such a mega event of international cricket matches was taking place in Pakistan, he remarked.

Answering a question, he said contrary to India's efforts to stop international cricket in Pakistan, he wanted to see the Indian cricket team also playing thrilling matches here with Pakistan. "We [Pakistan and India] should support each other," he said, stressing the need for revival of cooperation between the two countries in the fields of cricket, film and music.

The minister said he also believed in the restoration of people-to-people contacts between the two neighbouring countries. The minister said around 65 percent of people in India did not vote for Narendra Modi and they were suffering due to his wrong policies besides other minorities living there including Muslims.

To another question, he hinted that Prime Minister Imran Khan would visit the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium to watch the match at his convenience.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2022.