Thousands of Islamists move to Islamabad

Lahore: Tens of thousands of supporters of a banned radical Islamist party in Pakistan took out a march towards Islamabad on Thursday to press the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan to release their party chief Saad Rizvi and expel the French ambassador.

The rally by members of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), which started after the government announced that it cannot meet its demand for the expulsion of the French ambassador, has reached Gujranwala, some 80 kms from here. Gujranwala is approximately 220 kms from Islamabad.

Life in the areas surrounding its route continues to remain disrupted as cellphone and internet services also remain suspended. Lahore’s link to Rawalpindi and Islamabad has also been cut off from the GT Road.

“Police and Rangers are deployed on the route but unlike Wednesday, the



law enforcers did not stop the TLP workers on the order from the top as some government functionaries have engaged its leadership in talks,” a Punjab government official told PTI on Thursday.

For the time being, the government has changed its strategy in the wake of Wednesday’s bloody clashes in which four policemen and as many TLP activities were killed and over 400 injured, including policemen, he said.

The Pakistan Railways has also announced that three trains between Lahore and Rawalpindi and Islamabad will remain suspended for Thursday for both inbound and outbound services.

The government has announced that the protesters will not be allowed to reach Islamabad, the final destination of the TLP where it plans to hold a sit-in till the government accepted its demands.