The government on Monday activated backdoor channel to negotiate with representatives of protesters demonstrating against the execution of Mumtaz Qadri in a bid to disperse them and Sarwat Ejaz Qadri of Pakistan Sunni Tehreek also held three rounds of dialogue with the government representatives. Some close aides of the protesting clerics told Business Recorder that a government vehicle came at the protest venue around three times to take Sarwat Qadri for negotiations with the government.
"So far, all the negotiations with the government have been inconclusive ... the government is not ready to accept our demands," he said, adding the sit-in would continue until the government accepts all demands of the protesters. Around 3,000 people demonstrating against the execution of Mumtaz Qadri, former Punjab police commando hanged last month for assassinating Punjab governor Salman Taseer, were staging a sit-in at D-Chowk till the filling of this report. The protesters announced that they would stay in the Red Zone unless the government accepts their demands.
The demands include implementation of Shariah in the country and declaring Mumtaz Qadri a martyr. The set of 10 demands issued under the banner of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool (SAW), include the unconditional release of all Sunni clerics and leaders booked on various charges, including terrorism and murder; the recognition of Mumtaz Qadri as a martyr and the conversion of his Adiala Jail cell into a national heritage site.
They also sought assurances from the government that the blasphemy laws will not be amended and sought the removal of Ahmadis and other non-Muslims who had occupied key posts in public sector departments. Large contingent of police and Rangers have also been deployed around the protest venue while all roads leading to the D-Chowk were choked for public traffic due to which motorists face problems. Mobile services also remained suspended through out the day causing inconvenience to the citizens.
A senior police official said that they have arrested around 800 protesters and they have been shifted to different police stations in the federal capital. "All space in the police stations is filled up and now there is no room to keep more prisoners," he said.
The official said that no FIR has been registered against the protesters so far as the police high-ups are waiting for the interior ministry's nod to register cases against the protesters under anti-terrorism act. The protesters led by Sunni Tehreek and Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool (SAW) leadership had arrived in the capital on Sunday to attend Qadri's chehlum. They presented a charter of demand before the government and announced to stay in the Red Zone unless the government accepts their demands.
The government on Sunday called in the army to control the law and order situation in the capital after some protesters resorted to violence and allegedly damaged public property. They removed containers and blockades on the way to the Parliament House and also set some containers to fire before arriving outside the building where fiery anti-government speeches were delivered. A senior participant of the sit in said that protesters had turned violent on Sunday when the government neglected 12 pm deadline for fulfilment of their demands. The riot police had used tear gas and batons to disperse the stone-pelting crowd from the high-security zone outside the parliament building.
Some senior officials of the interior ministry, however, said the government has no intention of using the force to disperse the protesters. "We are trying to engage leaders of the protesters and want to disperse them peacefully," they said. Other than Sarwat Ejaz Qadri, no prominent religious cleric is part of the sit-in. Leaders of some religio-political parties like Jamat-e-Islami and JUI-F have also apparently distanced themselves from the ongoing protests against the government.
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