Admin finalises plans to confront marchers.

Byline: Tahir Niaz

ISLAMABAD -- After negotiations between government and the opposition parties on the venue of Azadi March had entered a deadlock, the district administration of Islamabad has been making plans to confront the marchers.

The Interior Ministry has given the police and the district administration a freehand to deal with the situation, according to the officials. The police, however, have been directed to exercise maximum restraint and avoid use of force as long as the marchers remain peaceful. The officials said that it has been decided in a high-level meeting to block all Islamabad entrance points from October 29 so that 'miscreants' could not reach Islamabad from other cities. Senior officials of police, district administration, and law enforcing agencies attended the meeting.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has ruled out any change in the schedule of Azadi March. JUI-F-led opposition parties want to hold Azadi March rally in the D-Chowk of Islamabad on October 31. However, the government has not allowed them and rather offered them to hold the rally at the Parade Avenue which has led to a...