Maulana Fazlur Rehman led Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) is all set to hold a protest in Islamabad today, as the protesters have entered Red Zone and are marching towards the Constitution Avenue To protests against the judiciary for providing ‘blanket relief’ to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.
The PDM protesters, which comprise mainly of workers of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) but also include supporters of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), have already reached the federal capital with many making a dramatic entrance into the Red Zone by barging in through the security gates, despite Section 144 still in effect in the federal capital.
Local media aired footage to Ansar ul Islam, a routine force of JUI-F set up to protect the party leadership, climbing over a security gate adjacent to the Kashmir Highway to enter the Red Zone as police watched on.
Police fear terrorism risk
The Islamabad Police spokesperson informed that the situation in Red Zone is peaceful as he urged the citizens to cooperate with the police and remain calm.
In another tweet, it warned the public that there are “risks of terrorism” and asked the public to stay away from places where crowds have gathered.
Mobile Network & Broadband Services:
Despite the protesters marching towards the Constitution Avenue, the mobile internet and broadband services are so far active in the federal capital. However, some users are complaining of weak internet signals.
Moreover, the social media platforms are still not functioning properly across the country following the three-day nationwide internet outage after the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority ordered restriction after the arrest of PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Tuesday.
Earlier on Sunday, a delegation of the federal government, including Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, had apparently failed to convince Maulana Fazlur Rehman to change the venue of a sit-in scheduled to take place outside the apex court.
The PDM has announced to stage the sit-in at the Constitution Avenue in Islamabad, outside the Supreme Court building at a time when the top court is expected to resume hearing on an Election Commission of Pakistan’s petition — a day after the court-ordered election deadline lapsed — requesting the court to revisit its April 4 ruling that ordered polls in Punjab on May 14.
Besides JUI-F, the PML-N, PPP, Awami National Party (ANP), Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP) and others have decided to take part in the protest while Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was uncertain about its participation.
PTI terms sit-in ‘attack on judiciary’
Meanwhile, PTI leader Faisal Javed Khan has termed the PDM sit-in outside the Supreme Court as an “attack on the Constitution and the judiciary”.
In a tweet, Javed said, “Government says that there will be no ‘disorder’ in the sit-in. [However] This sit-in in itself is ‘disorder’, i.e an attack on the Constitution and the judiciary.”