ISLAMABAD - The federal capital, like other cities of the country, also witnessed the spillover effects of the violence that claimed life of a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) worker and left many others injured on Monday ahead of PTI chief’s arrival to the industrial city of Faisalabad as part of its protest campaign against the sitting government.
As soon as the news of killing of one PTI worker was aired by national media, it loosed a chorus of lamentation from the PTI leadership followed by protests and road blockade of the main roads leading to the federal capital.
Following the protest call by Rawalpindi-Islamabad chapter of the PTI, hundreds of PTI workers assembled at the Islamabad Expressway and Aabpara to briefly suspend traffic flow.
A few hundreds PTI workers in the leadership of Amir Mughal, Khurram Nawaz and MPA Raja Rashid Hafeez took to the Islamabad Expressway and blocked the road for every kind of traffic. They burnt tyres and chanted slogans against the government.
Female workers staged a brief sit-in to lodge their protest against the killing of party worker in Faisalabad.
However, Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Mujahid Sher Dil and SP Rural Zubair Hashmi reached the spot and negotiated with the protesters. The traffic was restored after around one hour.
Similarly, a few dozens of PTI protesters gathered at Aabpara and chanted slogans against the Nawaz-led federal government. They burnt tyres and chanted slogans against the federal government. Holding placards inscribed with slogans against the rulers, they demanded arrest of the killer of the party worker who was shot dead on Monday. The traffic also remained suspended but not for more than one hour.
Blockade of traffic at the Expressway for one minute means queues of vehicles up to miles. As the PTI workers vent their anger, the road-users remained stuck in their vehicles. It was yet another day of misery for them as they experienced the spillover effect of the Faisalabad violence. However, overall law and order situation in the city remained under control with no major violence.
Fearing reaction from the workers, heavy contingents of police were deployed around Parade Ground.
The police frustrated party workers’ attempt to block the Constitution Avenue as National Assembly session was going on in the Parliament House.
However, the protesters marched towards Lal Masjid and joined co-workers at the Aabpara Chowk.