RAWALPINDI: Though Section 144 has been imposed in Islamabad prohibiting the gathering of more than four people, the participants of the long march of relatives of the missing persons from Balochsitan are determined to reach the federal capital on Friday.

“The Islamabad administration is trying to stop the march but we will reach our destination there,” Mama Qadeer Baloch, the leader of the long march participants, told Dawn here on Thursday.

A senior official of the capital territory administration said though there was Section 144 in the city, they had not received any direction to prevent the marchers from entering Islamabad.

The participants of the long march on Thursday arrived in the garrison city.

More than 30 people, led by Qadeer Baloch, are set to enter Islamabad via Benazir Bhutto Road on Friday.

On their way to the federal capital, they will be welcomed by civil society organisations and political workers at Katchery Chowk.

The participants started the long march from Quetta on October 27, 2013, to raise awareness about human rights violations in Balochistan and demand the recovery of their missing relatives.

The first phase, a 730-kilometre-long march, ended in Karachi with a demonstration in front of the press club on November 23. The second phase began in mid-December.

On Thursday, the participants - 14 men, nine women and three children - checked into a hotel near Morgah on G.T. Road.

Qadeer Baloch said they were disappointed over the issue of the missing persons.

He said the long march participants wanted to present their demands to the United Nations in Islamabad.

“We faced threats during our journey in Punjab. The Punjab police tried to stop us in Gujrat but after talking to police high-ups we continued our journey towards Islamabad. We received threatening calls and agencies also threatened the people who wanted to provide us shelter for the night stay,” he added.

“We faced difficulties all the way from Quetta but refuse to stop the march to raise the voice of the voiceless people.”

He said in Rawalpindi the police accompanied the participants but did not stop them.

“But the role of the Islamabad administration is strange as it wants to stop us and for that reason it also imposed Section 144,” he said.

“Our basic aim is to highlight the issue of the missing persons and for that we travelled a long way.”

Awami Worker Party (AWP) Punjab secretary Aasim Sajjad told Dawn that the Islamabad administration should not stop the people who wanted to hold a peaceful protest to raise voice for the missing persons.

When contacted, District Coordination Officer (DCO) Sajid Zafar Dall said the Rawalpindi administration had not imposed Section 144 in its limits and there was no direction to stop the participants of the long march.