Long march security piles misery on people

Daily life was badly affected amid tight security arrangements by the government to make the last leg of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s ‘Haqeeqi Azadi’ [true freedom] long march peaceful.

The PTI’s long march is poised to reach Rawalpindi next week as party head Imran Khan in his address to the participants via video link Saturday asked PTI leaders and supporters to converge in the garrison city on November 26.

Due to allowing only one-way traffic on GT Road from Chak Beli Mor, Rawat long queues of vehicles were formed. Commuters travelling on the GT Road between Rawalpindi and Lahore got stuck in the rush for hours.

The long march concluded upon the arrival of its participants in Rawat where the ‘Azadi’ container was installed for the PTI chief’s last address from the participants at Chak Beli.

Khan’s container was placed on the highway from Lahore to Rawalpindi. The two-way traffic on the GT Road was diverted while 5,000 police personnel were deployed. The police got all the petrol pumps, hotels and business centres on the GT Road shut down to ensure the security of the venue.

Sharpshooter policemen were deputed to the tall buildings near the venue in Rawat. Box security was provided to the PTI chief’s container.

The police diverted traffic coming from Chak Beli and nearby areas to alternate routes. Due to the partial closure of the GT Road, commuters faced severe inconvenience.

Citizens said that their daily lives were being badly affected by the ongoing protests. Businesses have come to a standstill and transport is suspended.

“Today, the facility of petrol pumps was also snatched away from the residents of Rawat,” they lamented and demanded the government take notice of the immediate situation and prepare a plan of action regarding future protests so that the citizens may not have to suffer.

‘Arrangements in place for long march security’

Meanwhile, Rawalpindi City Police Officer (CPO), Syed Shehzad Nadeem Bukhari Saturday said that foolproof security arrangements had been made for the security of the long march.

The CPO said that all available resources were being utilised to provide the best possible security cover for the long march. According to a spokesperson, the Rawalpindi district police had finalised all the security arrangements for the long march.

SSP Operations, Waseem Riaz Khan was monitoring the security arrangements while SP Saddar and other police officers were checking point-wise duty and briefing the personnel.

The Rawalpindi district police, administration and Rescue-1122 have finalised all the arrangements for the long march. Police personnel including commandos and sharpshooters were deployed to provide foolproof security cover to the long march upon entering the jurisdiction of Rawalpindi district. With additional input from APP

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2022.