ISLAMABAD: Under fire after the melee on Constutition Avenue that left over a 100 demonstrators hospitalised, the police insist that the violence could have been avoided had Pakistan Awami Tehreek stuck to its planned route towards the PM House.

Talking to Dawn, a senior police official said around 6:30pm, when Dr Tahirul Qadri told supporters to pack up their tents and belongings, PAT representatives had spoken to police officials and decided upon a safe route.

Police officials had assured PAT that their marchers would not be harmed or resisted if they stuck to the route – which envisaged protesters going from the sit-in venue on Constitution Avenue, down Shahrah-i-Jamhuriyat (next to the PM Secretariat) and onto 4th Avenue, near where the PM House is located.

But, police officials said, PTI never got in touch regarding its plans for a march to PM House, nor did the PAT finally confirm the route they would be taking.

PAT leaders had spoken to SSP Mohammad Ali Nekokara and discussed the protesters’ next move. When he was assured that Dr Tahirul Qadri’s supporters would move towards the PM House peacefully, he said police would not resort to baton-charge and gas shelling.

However, without confirming their plans, the two leaders simply issued marching orders to their followers, police said. At first, policemen allowed them to pass. But when they made for sensitive buildings, law enforcers first tried to form a human shielf to stop them and when that failed, responded with force, teargas and rubber bullets.

The route that the protesters were attempting to take, police officers told Dawn, passed through the Cabinet Block and the Presidency, two of the most key buildings on Constitution Avenue. This is why law enforcers had to resort to using force, they said.

After spending 10 days on the Constitution Avenue, at around 7:30pm on Saturday, Dr Tahirul Qadri announced during the sit-in of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) that their rally would move from their current sit-in venue towards the area outside the Prime Minister (PM) House.

Published in Dawn, August 31, 2014