Islamabad. Pakistan: As crackdown over Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) continues the Police have arrested over 100 Afghan nationals who PTI hired for today’s planned protest at D-Chowk Islamabad.
All roads leading to Islamabad have been sealed with cargo containers and cell phone service has been suspended in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
It is pertinent to mention that Interior Minister Mohsan Naqvi suggested that PTI postpone its protest on Friday because the Malaysian Prime Minister is in Islamabad along with over a hundred foreign delegations. Meanwhile, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the chief of JUI, also demanded that PTI postpone its protest until the SCO events end in Pakistan.
It is pertinent to mention that paramilitary forces including Pakistan Rangers have been deployed to secure the Red Zone.
However, PTI rejected all such demands and its followers are trying to gather around the venue of the protest that falls under the red-zone area of the capital.
Since national media is not covering the event and there is a complete blackout of television screens, PTI is providing all information about the protest through its social media platforms managed by its team sitting in the United States.
Mohsan Naqvi while addressing a press conference on Thursday confirmed that the arrested Afghan national had spiked batons, slingshots, and marbles for attacking the police. The majority of Afghans who were arrested had been living in areas of Bara Kahu, Tarnol, and Sangjani.
Meanwhile, national highways such as G.T Road, Lahore-Islamabad Motorway, and all connecting roads to motorways have also closed. Right now security barriers, including containers, have been installed at entry points from Rawalpindi to Islamabad, including locations like Rawat T-Chowk, Khanna Pul, Faizabad Interchange, Murrree Road, and Peshawar Road.
On the other hand, Barrister Saif, an advisor to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government said that Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur would arrive at D-Chowk. Saif despite all the obstacles claimed that PTI had the right to protest.
PTI’s Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur had already announced an arms struggle against the state of Pakistan and he directed his supporters to win a “battle for true freedom” and urged participants to “break the chains of fear.”
