Twin cities’ administration nervously prepares for ‘Azadi March’

The administrations in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad are readying themselves in a confused and jittery manner to cope with the ‘Azadi March’ of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on August 14 2014 as they are still uncertain about the size of the gathering and how to handle it.

District administration in Rawalpindi has taken over hundreds of containers from their owners and parked them near all the entry and exit points, four days ahead of the march. Even entry and exit points between the twin cities have not been spared and additional containers have been parked just a few meters away so as to be placed at a short notice.

People coming from Rawalpindi to Islamabad were already facing immense difficulties due to ongoing construction work for the Metro bus service but on Sunday morning, the traffic police of Islamabad closed the entry point of 9th Avenue which caused heavy traffic rush at Faizabad.

The people opined that these hurdles are uncalled for and in fact creating more problems for the residents now than they could expect to face during the ‘Azadi March’.

CHALLENGES FOR PTI:

Jinnah Avenue is already closed for traffic because of the Metro bus project. It has been dug at four places including Faisal Avenue Flyover, Kalsoom Plaza, China Chowk and just before D-Chowk, which could make it difficult for the PTI to manage the ‘Azadi March’ at D-Chowk in front of Parliament. Red Zone has also been closed for ordinary traffic and containers deployed to block entry to the diplomatic enclave area.

Petrol supply in the twin cities is still short. There were still queues at petrol pumps in Islamabad while some filling stations are completely closed due to lack of stock.

CITIZENS TIRED OF LONG MARCHES, SIT-INS:

A sense of despair was witnessed among majority of the people over the trend of confrontation in Pakistani politics. They said that issues should be resolved through negotiations instead of bringing thousands of people from every nook and corner of the country to the capital.

Some of the citizens reportedly said that political marches should be banned constitutionally as these are bringing a bad name to the country. They said that every political party in Pakistan gives the impression that it has more popularity among the masses but during elections, majority of them are rejected. They said that the tradition in Pakistan of holding long marches must be brought to an end.

A businessman from Aabpara Market, on condition of anonymity, said they are the worst hit as every political party and organisation marches to Islamabad or holds meeting at Aabpara for the attainment of petty objectives and as a result shopkeepers avoid visiting the market.

A large number of people were seen purchasing groceries for the coming week fearing that in case of violence, the markets would be closed.

While the citizens are readying themselves to go through the hazards of August 14/15, they have requested the governments at the Centre and in Punjab not to place indirect restrictions on their movements as daily wagers, emergency medical cases and similar other people in need of genuine travel would be the sufferers.