LAHORE: The Sunni Ittehad Council's (SIC) long march ended peacefully on Monday outside the Data Darbar in Lahore, with the announcement of a decisive conference on the 30th of March.
Updated from print edition (below)
Police await activists at Data Darbar
The city police cordoned off Data Darbar with barbed wire barricades and blocked the road leading up to the shrine as it sought to stop the Sunni Ittehad Council’s long march from disrupting city life.
The rally, scheduled to reach Lahore on Sunday night, was expected to arrive after midnight on Monday. The Sunni Ittehad planned to end it at Data Darbar.
Police contingents were deployed on GT Road with the main picket set up at Imamia Colony, the entry point into the city. Anti Riot Force personnel were deployed at the Imamia Colony railway crossing since morning. Barricades were in place at points along Ravi Road from Shahdara to Data Darbar.
Security arrangements at Data Darbar began in the morning with sniffer dogs sweeping the area in search of explosives. No one was allowed in without extensive security checks. Walk-through gates were placed at the Lower Mall and Ravi Road entrances to Data Darbar and the remaining entrances were blocked with barbed wire.
Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Aslam Tareen told The Express Tribune that additional policemen had been deployed along the route of the long march for security reasons only. “There are no plans to stop the protesters or use force against them,” he said.
Tareen said that the police had taken all possible steps to ensure peace in the city. “But the police will not allow any one to disturb law and order,” he added.
Meanwhile, SIC activists prepared to welcome the protesters into the city, setting up camps at various points from Data Darbar to Imamia Colony, including at Shahdara Chowk, Niazi Chowk and Azadi Chowk. SIC supporters also rallied from Data Darbar to Shahdara Chowk and gathered there to welcome the long march participants.
At their camps, decorated with banners and green flags, the SIC activists shouted slogans and made announcements through loudspeakers to draw attention. The camps were packed with turbans and shawls to be presented to Sunni Ittehad leaders at the end of the long march.
The long march, which began at the Bari Imam shrine in Islamabad on Saturday, is a protest against “suicide attacks on shrines, sky rocketing prices, government moves to abolish blasphemy laws, and Indian atrocities on Kashmiris”, according to Sunni Ittehad leaders.
SIC spokesman Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq said that the government had tried to stop the long march but stepped back after the SIC threatened to jam the major cities.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 29th, 2010.
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