(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The Lahore High Courts order came as authorities blocked almost every entry point to Islamabad with more than 20000 police and paramilitary forces deployed.A Pakistani court on Wednesday restrained a cricketer-turned politician and a Canada-based populist cleric from launching a march on Islamabad in an unconstituional way a lawyer said.
The Lahore High Court’s order came as authorities blocked almost every entry point to Islamabad on Wednesday with more than 20000 police and paramilitary forces deployed to try to thwart a major anti-government rally.
“Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) are restrained from launching a march/sit-in in Islamabad in any unconstitutional way keeping in view sensitivity of independence day and current uncertain situation in the country” PTI’s lawyer Ahmad Owais said in Lahore quoting from a short order by a three-judge panel headed by Justice Khalid Mehmood.
Major roads were barricaded with shipping containers and police used excavators to dig up smaller roads in Islamabad a day before two opposition protest marches are due to converge on the capital.
Imran Khan and Canada-based preacher Tahirul Qadri who heads PAT plan to march on the city on Thursday Pakistan’s independence day to demand Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resign and call fresh elections.
Both Khan and Qadri who led mass demonstrations in Islamabad early last year to urge electoral reform allege that the May 2013 general election was rigged.
By late Wednesday afternoon only the highway to the airport remained open and even there shipping containers were on standby ready to be moved into place.
The heavily-guarded “red zone” home to parliament the president and prime minister’s residences and foreign embassies was already sealed with containers barbed wire and concrete blocks.
Mobile phone services were shut down in the red zone on Wednesday — a common practice on sensitive occasions in Pakistan aimed at stopping militants using cell phones to detonate bombs.
In front of the five-star Serena hotel the road was blocked with several containers guarded by around 50 to 60 policemen. The city streets were largely deserted on Wednesday with almost all offices and shops closed.
The government on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to set up a panel of judges to investigate claims of rigging in last year’s general election — a move announced by Sharif late on Tuesday to try to ease political tension. For more news from Khaleej Times follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes and on Twitter at khaleejtimes Follow khaleejtimes ->
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.