Islamabad protest: 2nd round of negotiations fail, 3rd to be held today
Hopeful that 'good news' will be announced after the third round of dialogue, says Dr. Asif Jalali.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Second round of negotiations between the government delegation and protesting attendees of the chehlum of Mumtaz Qadri failed Tuesday. A third round for discussing the issue will be held at 12:00 pm today (Wednesday), according to the leader of the protest, Dr. Asif Jalali. He added that they were hopeful that ‘good news’ will be announced after the third round of dialogue.
On a question regarding the arrested protesters, Jalali rejected that those who caused the destruction were part of the protest, saying that their protest was peaceful.
Federal Minster of the Interior Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan had earlier announced that the government has decided to evacuate the D-Chowk today from the demonstrators, who have arranged a sit-in there for the past three days.
Nisar said that the attendees of the chehlum of Mumtaz Qadri earlier promised to peacefully disperse. However, one faction of the attendees disregarded their word and even tried to politicise the entire situation.
Meanwhile preparations by law enforcement agencies to remove protesters from the area have been completed. Islamabad police, Frontier Corps (FC) and Rangers have assumed control of the Red Zone. One thousand officers belonging to the Punjab constabulary will also take part in the operation. Police has been equipped with large sums of tear gas shells.
