Pakistan

Sealed again: Containers placed to secure PTI sit-in site

Police officials say move is aimed at curbing security risks in Muharram.

Photo: Huma Choudhary/our Correspondent October 30, 2014

ISLAMABAD: With the onset of Muharram, security around the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s (PTI) sit-in site on Constitution Avenue has been beefed up by the police who have placed containers behind the stage and around the parade avenue, sealing the entire area in order to avert any incident of violence.

The police have piled up containers right behind the main stage where PTI leaders have been delivering speeches for the last two-and-a-half months. They have also placed containers in the lawn right in front of the parliament lodges separating the lodges and the protesters.

A police spokesperson said the security has been on high alert since Muharram started and the containers have been placed to ensure safety of the participants of the sit-in. Besides, container-free Constitution Avenue has brought relief to residents as well as commuters travelling in and around the Red Zone, the spokesperson added.

Atiqur Rehman, a police constable working with the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) and present on site, said they check the entire Red Zone every morning and containers were placed after they were cleared by the BDS. Rehman added that BDS teams have been inspecting the area since the protesters arrived in the high-security zone.

The capital administration had removed all the containers from the Red Zone on the directives of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on October 15. The routes leading from and to the site had been blocked with containers since the second week of August in order to stop protesters from entering the restricted areas. At the time, their numbers were high owing to the participation of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) which is why some protesters managed to enter blocked areas by removing containers and other barricades. PAT recently called off its sit-in after a record 67 days in the capital.

Following the PAT chief Tahirul Qadri’s announcement, PTI made it clear that it would hold its ground till Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s resignation.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2014.