ISLAMABAD    -   Tension remains high in the feder­al capital as the city has been put on high alert ahead of the Pakistan Teh­reek-i-Insaf (PTI) long march start­ing from Lahore tomorrow.

The PTI chief has announced a long march towards Islamabad, de­manding the government to call fresh general elections. On the oth­er hand, the government has also started preparations to stop the PTI marchers from entering Islamabad by deploying thousands of securi­ty personnel. Hundreds of shipping containers have been placed near important points of the city so that the way towards the Red Zone could be blocked for Imran’s supporters. 

According to the interior minis­try, the authorities have decided to deploy around 30,000 police, Rang­ers, and paramilitary troops in Is­lamabad and not allow protesters to enter the Red Zone near the par­liament building, President House, Prime Minister House, ministers’ of­fices, Supreme Court building, 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. The ministry has also deployed Frontier Constabulary (FC) while police from Sindh province will be called out to assist the Islamabad capital police, according to the plan devised by the government to block the PTI march.

It is to mention here that the oth­er two provinces of Punjab and Khy­ber-Pakhtunkhwa, bordering the capital, are being ruled by Imran Khan’s PTI.

At present, Imran Khan is riding an unprecedented wave of popular­ity. Earlier this month, he won six of the seven National Assembly seats in the by-elections. PTI’s Asad Umar on Wednesday approached the Dep­uty Commissioner Islamabad seek­ing permission for the public rally at the ground between sector G-9 and H-9 along the Kashmir Highway. 

Amid a political conflict between the government and the PTI, for­mer prime minister Imran Khan also faces imminent arrest under some criminal charges. On 25 May, the police had used brute force, tear gas and baton-charged the PTI lead­ers and workers to deter them from moving towards Islamabad as part of the “Azadi March”, especially in Lahore and Karachi.

The provincial capital witnessed violent clashes between the PTI workers and the riots police, as the administration had blocked all exit points of the city, leading towards Islamabad. The police also arrest­ed dozens of PTI leaders and work­ers including Andleeb Abbas, Mian Mehmood ur-Rasheed, Jamshed Iqbal and Senator Ijaz Chaudhry.