Says no agreement made with Islamabad protesters
ISLAMABAD, March 30: Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali on Wednesday denied making any written or verbal agreement with leaders of Islamabad’s sit-in and reiterated that all those protestors, who took the law into their own hands, would be prosecuted and the rest would be freed.
Chaudhry Nisar addressing to media persons in Islamabad after end of sit-in, made it clear that “neither there is any written agreement with demonstrators nor anyone was mandated to do so.
The interior minister thanked mediators to play their role to end the protest peacefully in Islamabad. But he maintained that government was prepared to launch a crackdown on demonstrators. Nisar also announced banning all kinds of protests in Red Zone of Islamabad. “I, as Interior Minister, have decided to put a ban on entry of political, religious and other groups at D-Chowk in Islamabad,” he said.
“Time has come to decide whether we can allow someone to announce protests against a government and then hold the state hostage,” he said.
Nisar lamented that some people taking advantage of the massive Sunday gathering, suddenly started marching towards Islamabad’s Red Zone. “We had decided to evacuate Red Zone last night, but some respected figures from Karachi intervened and held talks,” the interior minister said.
“With the Parliament’s approval, we will make physical changes in Islamabad police to prevent such invasions in future and establish the state’s writ,” he added.
The interior minister reiterated that all those protestors, who took the law into their own hands, would be prosecuted and the rest would be freed. “In Islamabad and Rawalpindi alone, 1070 people are under arrest,” he said
Interior Minister announced that In the future, no political or religious gatherings and demonstrations will be allowed at D-Chowk. This is a very sensitive area and we can not allow groups of people to hold the government hostage.”
He also announced the end of the sit-in at Islamabad’s D-Chowk by pro-Mumtaz Qadri protesters, following successful negotiations between the government and protesters.
Earlier, the government had given the demonstrators an ultimatum to leave late Tuesday, but it went unheeded, prompting the government to issue a second call saying security forces would begin an operation to clear the area Wednesday morning.
A police source had stated that more than 7,000 security forces were poised to clear the sit-in, including the Rangers and Frontier Corps with reinforcements from the Punjab police. – Sabah
