ISLAMABAD: A few hundred people participated in a rally organised by Tehreek-e-Labbaik-Ya-Rasool-Allah (TLYR) and staged a sit-in on Jinnah Avenue in Islamabad on Thursday.
The rally left Lahore on Tuesday and reached Islamabad on Thursday.
A stringent security plan including thousands of police personnel was deployed in the capital to prevent any untoward action. Residents of the capital had to face severe traffic jams due to the deployment of security personnel at all the main entry points of the capital.
In an unsuccessful bid to gather mass support for its movement, the TLYR was able to muster around 300 people to participate in the rally. The participants, who are travelling in dozens of vehicles, have announced to lay a siege on the Parliament House if their demands are not met.
Around 600 protesters arrived at Faizabad on Wednesday night, with expectations that their numbers would increase once they were inside Islamabad. However, their number decreased to 300 following their march up to China Chowk on Jinnah Avenue, which they were allowed to do on Thursday after negotiations with the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration.
The protesters have announced to enter the capital’s Red Zone, which houses the Parliament House, Supreme Court and other key state institutions apart from the diplomatic district. Around 5000 personnel from Islamabad Police, Punjab Police, Frontier Constabulary, Rangers and Special Branch officials were deployed at the capital to tackle untoward situations and prevent the entry of the protesters into the Red Zone at all costs. The police and the ICT administration have sealed off the capital’s Red Zone with shipping containers.
The protesters’ main demand is for the government to identify and punish the responsible persons behind the recent change of wording in the declaration of Khatam-e-Nabuwat, or finality of the Prophethood, in election laws. The protesters claim that the change was a conspiracy to weaken the oath of Khatm-e-Nabuwat.
It warrants mentioning here that the change was immediately withdrawn and the declaration restored to its original form when the objection was raised.
The demonstrators also demand that Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah should be de-seated due to his recent pro-Ahmedi statements and the diplomatic relations with Burma should be cut down due to the atrocities on Rohingya Muslims. Furthermore, they demand that the recent court verdict on a girl, who was accused of blasphemy and who successfully managed to leave the country, should be implemented and a committee should be formed to monitor alleged conspiracies being hatched by Ahmedis.
The rally is being led by TLYR Chairman Muhammad Asif Ashraf Jalali. Jalali was recently proscribed from entering Islamabad by the ICT administration in the month of Muharram. Allama Muhammad Shahdab Raza, Peer Syed Naveed Alhassan Mushadi, Allama Ameen Allah Siyalvi, Gazi Saqib Shakeel Jalali and Allama Abdul Rasheed Awaisi are also participants in the rally.
Meanwhile, another religious group led by Khadim Hussain Rizvi has also announced to hold a march from Lahore to Islamabad on November 6, pertaining to the same issue. Rizvi is also among clerics who are banned from entering Islamabad.
A senior ICT officer while requesting anonymity told Pakistan Today that they had tried to convince the rally organisers to stage their protest in the Parade Ground but they have remained unconvinced so far.
“Now that they have crossed China Chowk, the authorities will have to use force to disburse them as the protesters cannot be allowed to enter Red Zone at any cost. They are quite small in number and it shouldn’t be a problem for our heavily deployed forces to tackle them,” he said.
