Protests against Qadri’s sentence block city transport routes

A day after the nuisance created by the workers of a banned outfit, the supporters of Mumtaz Qadri on Friday made it almost impossible for the residents of the twin cities to travel on its roads due to the former’s protests against the Anti Terrorism Court (ATC)’s verdict awarding death sentence to governor Salman Taseer’s assassination.
The residents of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi had an extremely difficult time traveling as Murree Road and Islamabad Highway remained blocked almost throughout the day by Mumtaz Qadri supporters. On Friday morning hundreds of Qadri supporters blocked roads near Faizabad causing a huge traffic jam on the main arteries. At Faizabad, they forcefully stopped all vehicles from entering the federal capital and burnt tyres on the roads.
The other day, the same residents had to face similar difficulties as all roads leading to Aabpara Market remained closed for hours due to a rally carried out by a banned outfit.
On Friday, school buses, vans, public transport, and hundreds of civilian vehicles stuck in traffic. Approximately 1 lakh people daily enter Islamabad through the said two arteries.
Those who were stranded on Murree Road near Faizabad had to go back to Shamsabad to enter the federal capital through a double road and 9th Avenue; while those who were stranded at the Highway had to use Khana Pul and Shahzad Town Road to reach their destinations in Islamabad. Owing to heavy congestion on alternative roads, massive traffic jams were witnessed at Tramri Chowk as well. “It seemed like there was no writ of the government, since everyone who wants to take the law into his own hands can easily come out onto the roads and block them,” said Muhammad Ali, a government employee. Muhammad Ali was among dozens of others who had to reach their offices on foot.
“Earlier, I used to get a van from Shamsabad but today -thanks to the clerics and the rulers- I am walking to get to my office,” said Raza Kazim, an office boy who works in a private office in Islamabad. Another citizen, Riaz Khan said, “The miseries of the commoner are increasing day by day…Everyday we have to face a new issue like shortage of petrol, shortage of flour, shortage of public sector vehicles etc but the government is paying no heed to our problems.”
Finally, police jumped to action and got the blocked roads open around Faizabad at 11:30 am, which were blocked once again after two hours. Throughout the day public transport stayed away from Murree Road and the Highway due to fear of possible financial loss due to damage inflicted onto their vehicles.
“I have nothing to do with the religious parties’ call, instead I stopped my van to avoid any damage from the Qadri supporters,” said Iqbal Shah, a van driver.
Coinciding with this abysmal situation and added to it was the closure of petrol pumps, coupled with the three day closure of CNG supply.
Due to call to strike by the clerics, the owners of Rawalpindi’s petrol pumps opted to close their pumps to save themselves from any damage from the protestors. The cab drivers took full advantage of the situation and charged the people fares of their own choosing.
Abpara market also remained partially closed in order to express solidarity with Qadri. “To express solidarity with Qadri we have closed our shops,” said Abpara Market President Ajmal Baloch.
Meanwhile, around five religious parties including Jammate Islami, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI)-Fazl Group, Jamiat-e-Islam, and Jamiat-e-Alhadees, jointly organised a rally at Aabpara Chowk to show their solidarity with Qadri. It was attended by around five hundred activists of these religious parties. Speaking on the occasion, former Member of National Assembly Mian Aslam, Maulana Majeed Hazarwi, and Abdul Waheed Qasmi strongly criticised the ATC verdict awarding death plenty to Qadri. Due to the rally, the Islamabad administration closed Sohrawardi road and diverted the traffic to Kashmir highway and 9th Avenue.