Islooites heave a sigh of relief after PTI calls off lockdown plan

Islamabad

Islamabad residents finally had a sigh of relief as PTI Chief Imran Khan withdrew the call of blocking the capital on November 2.

Past one week was truly a test of nerves for the residents as they expected an ugly encounter of police and PTI workers on the streets of Islamabad. Claims from both PTI and the government officials were clearly indicating towards that. The road blocks, baton charge, fiery statements and heavy police deployment were evidence enough to guess what would be the next.

People remained glued to their television sets keeping an eye on every development. All statements were discussed among the residents with anxiety. Especially those living in the sectors adjoining D Chowk braced for tough time ahead.

This would not be the first time for people living in F-6 and G-6 sectors to face such situation as they have experienced similar insecurity at the time of Lal Masjid operation, long march for independence of judiciary, protests against blasphemous videos and sit-in by Dr Tahir ul Qadri and his party members and the famous and longest 'Dharna' by PTI.

They still remember the day when just one armed person Sikandar made the whole Islamabad administration hostage for almost a day. He also chose China Chowk, close to D Chowk, for maximum media attention.

"We were directly affected by all those events. This time, we were expecting thousands of people marching towards this area. If the administration was not able to handle one person like Sikander, how would they be able to manage such a big crowd?" wondered Saleem Amjad, a resident of G-6.

As people residents were trying to control their anxiety, the blockage of roads started on October 27, much before the speculated time. Roads joining twin cities with each other and with the other parts of the country were blocked. People suffered greatly as many had their commitments in other cities. The sick remained stuck on the main entry points. There were even deaths because of the blockades.

“We were stuck between Jund and Fatehjang as ways to both Peshawar and Islamabad were blocked. It took us almost eight hours to reach Islamabad from Fatehjang through rough ‘katcha’ roads passing through different villages. There was no food outlet or gas station on the way,” said Mehwish, who suffered due to the road blockade. In normal situation, the travel between the two places takes only one hour.

Fire was added to the fuel by the hype created by media. People stopped sending their children to schools and postponed all their plans outside Islamabad. Those living near D Chowk even started storing food in their homes. “The situation was so tense. We stored basic food items in the house so that we can survive a few days even when the markets are closed,” said Shazia from Sector F-6/1.

Majority of residents appreciated that political leaders respected the decision of Supreme Court and a major political crisis was over but they expressed disappointment towards the political leadership and blamed their lack of capacity to manage crisis, for continuous mental, physical and economic insecurity among the general public.