ISLAMABAD: Political tension is growing in Pakistan as Islamabad was put on high alert after former prime minister Imran Khan announced to hold a “long march” on Friday, demanding the government call fresh general elections.
The government has also started preparations to deploy thousands of security personnel to block Khan’s supporters from entering the capital.
According to officials, the Ministry of Interior has already decided to deploy around 30,000 police, rangers, and para-military troops in the capital and not allow protesters to enter the sensitive Red Zone near the Parliament.
President’s House, Prime Minister’s House, ministers’ offices, parliament, and other important buildings, including foreign embassies, are located in the Red Zone.
“The government has already decided to call out the army to assist the civil administration in security,” an official of the Ministry of Interior told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak with the media.
The ministry has also deployed the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary (FC) while police from Sindh will be called out to assist the Islamabad police, he added.
The authorities also sent hundreds of containers into Islamabad to barricade all entry points before the arrival of demonstrators.
Sindh is ruled by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), a partner in the ruling alliance of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), while the other two provinces bordering Islamabad, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, are being ruled by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).
At a news conference in Lahore on Tuesday, Khan said his protest will begin from Lahore on Friday, with people joining from across the country.
“This will be the largest long march in the country’s history,” he said, adding the government, despite his repeated warnings, is not ready to hold a vote, which is due in late 2023.
Khan added that they will remain peaceful as families will join the march, however, the government will be held accountable “if they use any force against peaceful people.”
Meanwhile, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal accused Khan of announcing the protest march at a time when the government is preparing for an important meeting in China as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is scheduled to visit Beijing in the first week of November.
“The 11th JCC meeting of CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) is going to be held and Imran Niazi is plotting to derail CPEC by conducting ‘fitnah (noxious) march’,” he tweeted.
عمران نیازی کا ایجنڈا پاکستان میں انتشار اور انارکی پیدا کرنا ہے۔
وہ ارشد شریف کی ہلاکت پہ سیاست کر کے قومی اداروں پہ بھیانک ترین حملے کر رہا ہے۔
سی پیک کا گیارہواں JCC اجلاس منعقد ہونے جا رہا ہے اور عمران نیازی “فتنہ مارچ” کر کے پھر سی پیک کو ڈی ریل کرنے کی سازش کر رہا ہے۔
— Ahsan Iqbal (@betterpakistan) October 25, 2022
CPEC comprises infrastructure projects that are under construction throughout Pakistan beginning in 2013.
Khan’s long march announcement comes after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disqualified him for failing to disclose foreign gifts and proceeds of their alleged sale he received while serving as prime minister.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC), however, said he is not barred from contesting elections in the future.
Earlier this month, he won six of the seven National Assembly seats in a by-election he said was a referendum on his popularity.
