Ratcheting up pressure on the Pakistan government, thousands of lawyers demanding reinstatement of judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf during last year's emergency, led a protest to a heavily fortified Islamabad on Friday where authorities sounded a high alert amid fears of violence.
"These are Musharraf's last days.... We are out on the streets to save Pakistan," lawyers' leader Aitzaz Ahsan told the cross-country 'long march' by advocates, activists and political workers of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, Jamaat-e-Islami and Tehrik-e-Insaf that started in Lahore on Monday and reached the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi in its final leg.
The protesters, who have accused the new government of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of wavering on its election promise of restoring the judiciary, have threatened to continue their protest at a ground near the parliament and Presidency till the judges sacked by Musharraf during last year are reinstated.
The government has sounded a high alert in the capital, deploying over 5,000 policemen and hundreds of paramilitary personnel.
In Rawalpindi, the protesters gathered for a rally at the district court complex, located a short distance from the official residence of Musharraf.
The motorcade was led by youths on motorcycles waving flags of various political parties as many people lined the roads to welcome the protesters.
Amidst the chanting of slogans demanding restoration of judiciary and the ouster of Musharraf, the protesters were addressed by Ahsan. Rights activist Asma Jehangir and PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan traveled in an open truck.
After a brief stop at Liaquat Bagh, where former premier Benazir Bhutto was assassinated last year, the march made its way to Islamabad.
All access roads to Constitution Avenue, along which the Presidency, parliament, Supreme Court and Diplomatic Enclave are located, have been blocked with cargo containers, barb wire barricades and concrete blocks.
Electronic gates have been set up at the ground for the rally and all persons entering the venue were thoroughly frisked by security personnel.
The interior ministry has set up a control room near the ground, which has been linked to close circuit cameras, to keep an eye on the entire area around the parliament. Medical teams, fire fighters and bomb disposal teams have also been deployed near the ground.
The government and the lawyers' movement have agreed on a code of conduct for the rally, whereby the protesters will not enter a 'red zone' around the parliament and presidency. The lawyers have also agreed to ensure that protesters do no damage public property.
Most embassies within the Diplomatic Enclave, several banks and other business establishments in Islamabad have declared a holiday today and on Saturday.
However, the 'long march' has not garnered the same sort of support as a similar movement last year by the lawyers after Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was suspended by Musharraf.
Chaudhry is not personally leading the march and arrived in Islamabad on Thursday, ahead of the protesters. The scorching summer heat too has kept many people away. Moreover, the ruling Pakistan People's Party has given a lukewarm response.
"The PPP will welcome our guests of the march at the venue and ensure their security and other needs," said Rehman Malik, sdvisor to the Prime Minister on Interior Affairs and senior PPP leader, after reviewing arrangements for the rally.
Though PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has addressed the protesters on two occasions, including on Thursday, he too has not joined the 'long march'.
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