ISLAMABAD: Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) State Minister Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said Wednesday that the government wants to peacefully end the ongoing sit-in at Faizabad interchange.
Groups of religious parties have been protesting against the government over the change in the Khatam-e-Nabuwwat clause in the law during the passing of the Elections Act 2017 last month.
He said the government had nominated a team under Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Senator Raja Zafarul Haq to negotiate with the protesters.
Meanwhile, as the sit-in entered the tenth day, commuters in the twin cities continued to face hardship as protesters refused to open the Faizabad interchange.
The protesters, activists, and supporters of religious parties wanted the government to punish those responsible for changing the wordings of the oath regarding the Khatam-e-Nabuwwat clause.
The government had immediately termed the incident a ‘clerical error’ by passing another amendment. As a result of the protests, containers have been placed by the authorities concerned to block roads, while mobile phone signals have also been suspended around the protest area. Suspension of mobile phone signals had further inconvenienced the citizenry living around the area as they could not contact any one in case of emergency.
Students have been the most affected group due to the ongoing sit-in, for whom commuting to their educational institutes now took hours instead of minutes.
Commuters in the twin cities had been left with no choice but to search for alternate routes to reach their destinations, and had to pass through the misery of being stuck in long traffic jams for hours.
Traffic authorities in Islamabad and Rawalpindi have diverted commuter traffic travelling between the two cities towards alternate routes. Those commuting between Islamabad and Rawalpindi have been advised to use Peshawar road, Murree road, 9th Avenue and other decided routes.