Attempts by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters to reach D-Chowk opposite Parliament in Islamabad on Friday were partially thwarted by police who braced for the main block of protesters from different parts of the country to reach the federal capital.
Those protesters who did manage to reach D-Chowk were either dispersed using tear gas and rubber bullets or were arrested. Among those arrested were former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan's sisters, including Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan. They were bundled into the back of police prison vans and taken to the nearest police station for processing.
PTI had announced a protest in the Red Zone of the federal capital to demand the release of their incarcerated leaders. The government, to thwart them, sealed all routes leading to the federal capital and to D-Chowk with a wall of shipping containers apart from deploying a heavy contingent of riot police. The motorway heading to Islamabad was also shut down.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur is leading a major cohort of PTI supporters from his province along with cranes and heavy machinery to clear the path. Having set off from Swabi in KP, his convoy has yet to reach the federal capital.
Earlier, small groups of PTI workers and Imran Khan's supporters managed to reach D-Chowk and Faizabad Interchange. At both locations, they were confronted by Islamabad police, who fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.
PTI supporters burnt tyres and driftwood to lessen the impact of the tear gas.
Islamabad's police chief told the media that they had arrested over 30 PTI supporters from D-Chowk, including Imran Khan's sisters, while they were dispersing other PTI supporters attempting to convene at D-Chowk.
Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that images of the people accompanying Gandapur showed that PTI supporters were armed. He said that all such elements will be dealt with accordingly.
It is pertinent to remember that D-Chowk is the location where in August 2014, Imran Khan's PTI, along with Pakistan-Canadian scholar and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Maulana Tahirul Qadri led rallies that attempted to attack the Parliament and other state installations, including Pakistan Television (PTV) before proceeding to stage a four-month long sit-in to force the then-PML-N government out of power over claims of electoral rigging.